The New Fullmetal Alchemist
by The New Fullmetal Alchemist
Summary: Set 7 years after FMA movie. Roy's dealing with enough stress already, but what happens when a flash from the past comes knocking? And what happens when they're suddenly taken to the world of Harry Potter? Find out! FMA spoilers! R&R! NO MarySue!
1. Amestris

**A/N: Hey, everybody! How's it goin'? I'm The New Fullmetal Alchemist! For starters, no, this story is not about me – I just really liked the title I had made and so I stole it for my pen name! And yes, this will be an FMA/HP crossover, but it's really cool, and it happens about 1/3 of the way through! It's great! Oh, and SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't seen all of the episodes of FMA, then don't read! You don't need to necessarily have seen the movie, but you do need to know what generally happened. Anyways, enough rambling, more reading! **

**I do not own FMA – but I wish I owned Roy! (drool…)**

…

Chapter 1: "Amestris"

The cool breezes of spring wafted their way through the open window of the general's office. Roy Mustang, deep in thought, stared through the drawn-back curtains as the breeze blew about his shock of straight black hair. He absent-mindedly drew his hand across his eye-patch, having grown accustomed to its presence and his lack of vision. It had been so long since the night that Archer had tried to kill him…

"General! We need you to sign these – it's regarding the new recruitment policy. Hey, chief, are you ok?" asked Lieutenant Colonel Jean Havoc, one of Roy's subordinates.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine… Just… dozed off for a bit, that's all," Roy said distractedly.

"Are you sure, chief? You've been out of it for days now – is it Riza?"

Havoc knew not to be too concerned about the former Lieutenant and current first lady, but still, there had been so many problems in the past. Problems no one, not even Roy, could have helped.

…

Amestris had changed a lot over the years – the government that had been put in place shortly after Bradley's disappearance had been working well, but still required help from the military regarding political handlings, which meant that all the top military officers, including Roy, who had been reinstated as the Flame Alchemist and promoted following the invasion launched on Amestris almost 7 years ago, still had to work overtime to keep things running smoothly. Yet not smooth enough… There had been, and still was, pockets of government and military resistance – old terrorist groups that refused to die. Some of them had managed to keep low and continue to organize a plan for revenge. They had struck back in the most underhanded and gruesome of ways: they killed the children of government and military leaders. The insurgents had grown to cover people in every field until a vast underground terrorist group had been formed that could infiltrate and expose the families and their children. One of the group's more dramatic and public displays involved members of the cleaning and wait staff of one of the legislation leaders in the government; while the legislator was at the government building, the terrorist members had overtaken, bound and gagged the legislator's wife. They then shot the couple's four-year old daughter and then hung her from a tree that reached out across the large stone wall surrounding the property, with words of hate, malice, and warning written in blood upon the wall beneath her hanging body. Shortly after this, the group was ratted out and the majority of them captured and taken to the Central City military prison. Unfortunately, this did not spare Roy and Riza their share of heartache. In fact, they were one of the first ones attacked. The insurgents knew that it was Roy who had killed their beloved fuehrer, and it was he who would pay: with blood. Riza had gone to the hospital to give birth to their first child, neither parent knowing about the terrorist group or what would happen a few hours later. The doctor, a firm supporter of the fallen fuehrer, had agreed to help the insurgents. He purposely botched the delivery, killing the baby and nearly doing the same to Riza. Roy was furious and devastated: his wife had been severely injured, and they had killed his child before it could even take a breath – they had killed his only son.

…

**El fin! Hope you are enjoying yourselves so far! I have 9 chapters total right now, so please read and review! Also, as you read the next couple of chapters, let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	2. The New Alchemist

**A/N: Woohoo! I am just as happy as noodle salad! Wheee! My spring break just started, and I have to take the SAT tomorrow! Joy! Groan… stupid noodle salad… Ok, now we're moving! Wasn't the last chapter sad? It almost made me cry! Sniff… anyway, continue to read and review! I have 7 more chapters I need to post tonight! Wheeee!**

**I do not own FMA – maybe some day, though…**

…

Chapter 2: "The New Alchemist"

Two years had passed since the death of their son, and Roy and Riza had both recovered from their separate yet similar wounds. The couple was getting ready to have their second child, and the possibility of the first incident happening again haunted Roy's mind. Havoc, guessing correctly as to what was bothering his superior and friend, gently reminded him of how improbable it would be that that would happen again.

"But not the entire group was captured – maybe they have a new way to get at us!"

"But, Roy, there haven't been any incidents since the majority of them were rounded up over a year ago; besides, you're using a family doctor this time, one you've known since before the Ishbal war, even! You know that everything will be ok this time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right… but still… I just don't feel right – like something's wrong…"

"You're just nervous. Relax, chief, everything's under control."

"Still, I'm not going to rest comfortably knowing that there are still terrorists out there who are going to do this sort of thing again! I – "

"Geez, calm down! You know, I really wonder what kind of father you're going to make… But besides, you're still got another six months left – I'm sure the rest will be rounded up by then."

"I sure hope so, Jean… I sure hope so…"

"General!" saluted a sergeant as he abruptly entered the room, "Sorry for the interruption, sir, but we have a problem!"  
"Uh, oh…" muttered Jean.

"A problem? What kind of problem?" Roy responded nervously. He was still a little bit shaken up from the idea of the terrorists not all being accounted for.

"Well, sir, there's a girl out front who's demanding that we allow her to see you. She says it's important, but she also said something about earning a State Alchemist title. We told her to go to the military information office to sign up properly, but she refused. What do you want us to do, sir?"

"State Alchemist, huh? How old is she?"

"We believe she's about 13 or 14, sir."

Jean let out a long, low whistle. No one that young had ever applied to be a State Alchemist; no one since…

"Well, then, tell her this: If she can get past all of the guards stationed in the hallways up to my office, then I'll see her. If she can't, she's to be thrown out immediately."

"But, sir!" the sergeant exclaimed.

"Just tell her – I'll make an announcement to all the staff over the intercom. That is all."

"Y-yes, sir!" stammered the officer as he saluted and turned to go out the door.

"What do you have in mind, Roy? Five floors, about ten guards per floor – she'll get creamed!" Jean demanded of his superior officer.

"Simple. I'm just testing her to see if she's worth anything."

"You should've just signed those papers about the recruitment policy like I asked…" sighed Jean as Roy boomed out over the intercom:

"Attention all staff and personnel: a potential State Alchemist will be coming through the halls shortly. Staff is asked to remain inside their offices until further notice, and all security is asked to maintain their posts and prevent the alchemist from gaining admittance to the fifth floor and to my office. Use force as necessary. That is all."

…

Five minutes later a young girl marched her way up to the general's office, leaving a sea of bruised and bloodied soldiers in her wake.

…

**The End. Hope you like it! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	3. Her Name, Her Story

**A/N: Hang on to your pants, kiddies! We're really scootin' along now! Haha! Speaking of pants, please read my short story, "Roy and Riza's Cracked-Out Car Ride"! I wrote it for my friend… Haha! Pants! Heehee! Anyways, get yourselves ready, 'cause it's a real doozey! Haha!**

**I do not own FMA – but oh, how I wish…**

…

Chapter 3: "Her Name, Her Story"

Roy and Havoc were about to start on the general's overdue paperwork when a knock suddenly came at the door.

"Enter," Roy called out.

The door opened and in stepped a girl of about 13 or 14, with clear blue eyes and soft brown hair that fell past her shoulders, her long bangs tied back to keep her vision clear. She wore white gloves, long black pants, large black boots, and a black t-shirt underneath a dull blue coat.

"Are you Roy Mustang?" she asked without a hint of fear.

"Yes," Roy answered with a mixture of bemusement and apprehension.

"Then you knew my father," she said.

"Your father? Who is your father?" Havoc leaned forward and asked.

"Edward Elric," she stated, with such forcefulness and clarity that her words could not be mistaken. The silence that followed was absolute – even the wind had stilled.

…

"Your father… was Edward Elric?" Roy asked faintly.

"Yes," the girl stated.

"Then," struggled Havoc, "who is your mother?"

"Winry Rockbell," she said.

"Whoa…" Havoc said silently. Roy sat staring off into space, silent and unmoving. Noticing the change in his superior's behavior, Havoc took it upon himself to continue questioning the girl.

"S-so…" he stammered, "uh… where's your mother, then? Why didn't she tell us you were coming?"

"Because," the girl said simply, "she's dead."

"What! When did she die? How?"

"Just about a year ago – she was killed."

"Really? By who?"

"I don't know. It was dark out, and we were coming home. Suddenly there was a flash of light, like from a transmutation circle. Then a bunch of people surrounded us, and there was light everywhere – but beams of light, not flashes. There was a bright one that hit my mom – I saw her face lit up in it – after that she fell down; she was dead. All of the people laughed and shouted, and then there were more flashes of light from alchemy and they were gone."

"I-I'm really sorry to hear that… Wow… I wonder why we didn't get a report about it here in Central…"

"Because no report was ever made," she said. "I was the only witness. I knew it wouldn't help anything anyway."

"Well, then, what did you do afterwards?"

"I traveled."

"Traveled? To where?"

"Everywhere – all over the country. I was looking for information about my father."

"About Edward?"

"Yes," she said. "My mom told me a little bit about him, and so I've been going from town to town, person to person, gradually learning more about him and meeting more people who knew him. A man named Armstrong told me that I should come here."

"Armstrong, huh? Heh. Yeah, I guess that's about right. So, kid, what's your name, anyways?"

"Trisha Elric," she said. "I'm named after my grandmother."

"Trisha Elric, huh? So you have your dad's last name?"

"Yes."

"So, how come we never even heard about you? And why are you as old as you are? If you were really Edward's child you should only be about 6 or 8; after all, that was about how long ago we last saw him, and I know for sure that he hasn't been back since."

"Well, that's kind of a long story," Trisha said, her earlier stoniness and reserve vanishing. She gave an embarrassed smile and scratched her head behind her ears in an awkward sort of way.

"Well, considering the circumstances, I think I'd like to hear it," Havoc said friendlily, giving her an encouraging half smile.

"When my dad came back from the other side of the Gate a few years ago, my mom performed this really ancient sort of alchemy without him knowing it – it transferred a part of him, sort of, into her. I was born as a result. But since I was conceived through alchemy, I don't grow as normally as someone else. By average human standards, I was born three months too early, and I grew exponentially afterwards. By the time I should have been a year old, I was already physically and mentally a three-year old. When I should have been three, I was really about 5 or 6, and so on. It's gradually slowed down the older I've gotten, and it should eventually stop altogether after a few more years. I really don't totally understand it myself; in fact, I don't think my mom really did either at the time. I just know that alchemy is just as much a part of me as my father is – it's something that I can't help."

"Wow," Havoc said, his jaw dropped down and his cigarette dangling, "so… Edward… doesn't even know? About you? At all?"

"Nope. At least, I don't think so. That's one of the reasons why I want to be a State Alchemist – I want to see if I can't figure out a way to find him again – him and my uncle."

"Oh?" asked Havoc, "and what's the other reason?"

"I really don't have anywhere else to go. Besides, when I heard that the general knew my father, I just had to come. I had to know…" she faltered, trailing off and casting her eyes downwards.

"I see…" Havoc said softly.

"So, you want to know more about your father, huh?" Roy, who had been silent up to this point, stood and asked in an annoyed-sounding way, his expression stony and his eyes unseen through his hair.

"Yes, sir. And to become a State Alchemist."

"Fine then. If you can pass the State Alchemy exam like everyone else, then I'll tell you everything I know. Havoc will show you to the registration office so you can sign up."

"Yes, sir," Havoc saluted.

"Thank you, sir," Trisha bowed, turning to leave after Havoc and in doing so revealed the freshly-painted black flamel on her coat.

After he heard the door snap shut behind him, Roy sat down again limply behind his desk, sighing, thinking, and remembering as he weakly put his head into his hands.

…

**6 more typed chapters to go! I wrote another 3 or so during school, but they need to be typed up so I can download them. Please review! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	4. The Curse

**A/N: So, how'd you like chapter 3? Bet you weren't quite expecting all of that! Oh, and I know that a lot of what happened might not make a whole lot of sense, but just keep with it – that and be open-minded and imaginative! **

**Oh, yeah! Thanks to WinterhartZahneelCalina for posting for me while I was waiting for the 3 day "abstinence" period to be over! **

**Please review!**

**I do not own FMA – the DVDs, on the other hand…**

…

Chapter 4: "The Curse"

"Edward's daughter! Roy, you're kidding me!"

"No, I'm afraid not – at least, I think not, unless it was all just a dream – I have been pretty stressed lately… what with work and… everything…" Roy sighed, telling his wife the events of that afternoon.

"But, Roy," Riza pleaded, putting down the book she had in her hands, "you're seriously not going to let her go through with this, are you! Letting her become a State Alchemist like her father – it's too dangerous! You can't!"

"You know that the military has changed, Riza – State Alchemists aren't faced with the same dangers as we used to be," Roy said, blankly staring through the window at the small garden located just behind their house. "Besides," he said, turning to her with a sad smile, "she has no one left."

Riza sighed. "It doesn't matter what I say to you, does it? Well fine, then, let her. You're head of the alchemy department, so you do what you want. But at least bring her over here so I can meet her."

"Not until she's passed the exam – that was the deal we made," Roy replied stubbornly.

"Fine – but do you at least have a named picked out for her, then? Because based on these damage reports you've brought home, it sounds like she really knows what she's doing."

"Yeah, I guess she does," Roy quietly laughed. "But, yeah – I think I do know what name to give her…" Roy finished softly.

"Please don't tell me it is what I think it is… and besides, you don't even know if she – "

"I know, but still…"

"If you give her that name you're condemning her to a service like Edward's – half of his problems came from that name – it's cursed," Riza told him, gaining back her usual coolness and reserve.

"Oh, I doubt that," Roy said as he turned towards her with a grin.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Riza tersely replied, picking back up the book she had been reading before Roy had come in. 'That poor girl,' Riza thought as she sighed.

…

**5 more typed chapters to go! History class is a great place to write stories! But please don't actually do that – I am a professional (slacker). Please review! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	5. Alchemical Intuition

**A/N: Yeah... the chapters recently are a little on the skimpy side... sorry... it's actually becuase they just naturally break off where they do - I don't want to force a story thread togo on farther thanit should just so I can make the chapter longer... hope you don't mind!**

**Please review!**

**I do not own FMA – but when I rule the world…**

…

Chapter 5: "Alchemical Intuition"

"So, kid, are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Well, no, but still, I thought I'd ask," Havoc chuckled. He was taking Trisha to the medical examination room; she had just gotten back her results on the written test that she had taken the day before – she had passed with flying colors, receiving on of the highest scores the military had seen in years.

"That really was amazing," Havoc told her. "After all, you got here the day before the exams started – it's not like you had time to study."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I was kind of nervous about it, but when I took the test I was surprised about how much I knew without, well, knowing it."

"Care to swing that by me one more time?" Havoc asked, giving her a puzzled look.

"I don't know – I didn't know – I just – _did_, I mean…"

Havoc continued to look at her questioningly.

"Ok, let me start over – because alchemy is some kind of weird part of me – "

"Because of what your mom did…" Havoc offered, making sure he was getting the gist of the story so far.

"Right – because of that, there are things I know and can do that I shouldn't normally be able to – I don't know how, I just can. So like on that test, there were things I already knew, and things I knew without knowing – like it was subconscious."

"What, some kind of 'alchemical intuition?'"

"Yeah… exactly – it's an alchemical intuition," Trisha said as she slowly smiled, trying to hide her nervousness. Her stomach was fluttering and her face was pale and sweaty. She choked down the knot forming in her throat as she gripped the handle of the door leading in to the medical examination room, wondering how she was going to pull this next part off.

…

**3more typed chapters to go! Please review! If you don't, you'll make me cry! Sniff! See, I'm crying! Ha! Oh, and let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	6. The Medical Exam

**A/N: Ok, now the chapters are starting to beef up! I hope that no one's mad about chapters 4 and 5 being small (cough) like Edward (cough)… heehee! Keep reading! It's startin' to get _gooood_!**

**I do not own FMA – but I do have with me a lovely tuna melt and some tater-tots! Oh, wait, no… I just ate the tater-tots… never mind…**

…

Chapter 6: "The Medical Exam"

Trisha squinted as the light was shined into her eyes.

"Open your right eye… your left… good," the medical examiner murmured. "Ok, if you could remove your coat and boots, I – " he stopped in mid-sentence, gawking at the gleaming pieces of metal attached to the girl's body.

"Auto-mail? Well, I never would have imagined – you're so coordinated! How did it happen?" the doctor gushed, taking notes in her medical file with a sudden zest that hadn't been there a few minutes before.

"Uh, well,…" Trisha began, stammering. Suddenly she snapped to attention – this was one person she couldn't provide with any doubts whatsoever.

"A train accident," she told him, looking the doctor straight in the eyes.

"Oh? What kind of train accident?" the doctor asked, still energetically scribbling away.

"The kind that rips your limbs off. I'd really rather not talk about it, if you don't mind," Trisha responded coolly.

"Oh…" the doctor said, sounding deflated, his note-taking ceasing. "O-of course not, how silly of me… if you could please just stand over here and we'll measure your weight and height…"

Trisha with-held a sigh of relief, but let a small smile escape – she was over the most dangerous hurdle. 'Who knows,' she thought, 'what his reaction would have been if I had told him the _rest_ of the truth.'

…

"Well, chief? How did it go?" Havoc asked her as she came out of the examining room. He gave her a friendly smile to let her know that she didn't have to lie to him – he had heard it al before, especially since meeting Edward.

"Oh, ok, I guess," Trisha said as she pulled her coat back on. "I had to lie a little, though. About my auto-mail, I mean."

"You have auto-mail!" Havoc all but shouted. He glanced at her ungloved hands. "Well, I guess you do. I hadn't noticed it before."

"That's all right," she reassured him.

"So, what did you lie about, then?" he asked.

"Why I have auto-mail in the first place – I told the doctor that I lost my limbs in a train accident, but that's only a small part of the story."

"Well, then, what happened?" Havoc felt a little guilty asking her so much, but he had quickly observed that she obviously trusted him enough to not really care that he was asking so much about her. Trisha was fairly used to explaining herself by now, but she only shared her story with people who she trusted – and that usually meant people who knew her parents well.

"Ok, well, you know how since I was born through a combination of natural genetics, alchemy, and physical parts of my father – like hair, or skin cells or something?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, since I am literally a part of him, he had to be a part of me, right?"

"Sure, I guess that makes sense…" Havoc said, not really sure where this was all leading to.

"Well, you know how m y father lost his left leg to the gate when he tried to transmute my grandmother? And how he sacrificed his right arm to transmute my uncle's soul?"

"Yes, I do… that was a really long time ago, wasn't it? When Ed and Al were still here…" Havoc reminisced.

"Right – well, an arm for a soul doesn't exactly sound like that fair of a trade, now does it?"

"No… I suppose not," Havoc said. He had really never thought about it before.

"And that's because it's not – or, at least, that's how it appears to have turned out…"

"What do you mean?" he asked her with a skeptical look.

"I mean, I'm still paying for that trade – I was born without my right arm."

…

**Pretty good, huh? Bet you can't wait to see what happens next, huh? 3 more typed chapters to go! Please review! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	7. Automail

**A/N: Nice, nice… You know, I haven't really thought about it until now, but Havoc has really stolen the spotlight. In case you're wondering, no, it's not because he is Trisha's love interest (nor will he ever be! He's way too old for her! Eww!) Rather, he's just such a likeable character, I found it easier to just have all of Trisha's background be through conversations with him than to drag in newer characters and start over. Anyway, it's really getting heavy now! Man oh man… please review!**

**I do not own FMA – I did own some tater-tots about five minutes ago, though…**

…

Chapter 7: "Auto-mail"

"Wow… so, if you weren't born with your right arm, then…"

"What happened to my left leg? About 4 or 5 years ago – I guess I was around 6 or 7…"

"Oh, that's right – the funky alchemy thing with your body," Havoc suddenly recalled.

"Yeah. So anyways, I was about 6 or 7 and me and a bunch of other kids from Resembool were playing down near the river where the train runs by. Well, we had the train schedule pretty much figured out so we wouldn't be anywhere near the tracks when a train came. But something must have happened – I never really did figure out what – we heard a train whistle all of a sudden, and the train came speeding down the tracks going right past the station…"

"Some kind of emergency, maybe?" Havoc guessed.

"Yeah, maybe; but we didn't know about it, so we were on the tracks when we heard it coming from behind us. Well, we all jumped off the tracks and into the ditch on either side of the rails, except for this one really little kid who tripped trying to get out of the way. He panicked and started crying and wouldn't move, so I jumped up to try and get him…" Trisha paused, her voice trailing off.

"Well? Did you manage to get him in time?" Havoc prompted softly.

"Yeah… I did… but I tripped over the rail as I was trying to carry him off of the tracks… and my leg got caught under the wheels of the train as it was going by…"

Havoc sat in silence, patiently waiting for Trisha to continue her story.

"And well, that's why I needed auto-mail. My mom custom-made it for me. In fact, right before the night she got killed, she upgraded my arm and leg to the ones I'm using now – they were my father's. Apparently he was about my size."

"I see," Havoc said, wisely deciding that now was no time for a comment on Edward's height. "It sure looks beat-up, though – what are all of those scratch marks on your right hand?" Havoc asked, squinting to see what was on the back of the auto-mail hand.

"Oh…um, nothing really. Just… transmutation circles…" she said sheepishly.

"What! Transmutation circles? Let me see!" Havoc asked her excitedly.

"Hey, keep your voice down!"

"Wow…That's pretty cool… say, I've seen some of these before, but where…?"

"… I'll tell you later," Trisha mumbled, shrinking away from the stares of officers and personnel in the hallways who had heard Havoc's shouting.

"Oh, right, sorry, chief!" Havoc said in an embarrassed yet good-natured way. "Well, you had better pass the next part of your exam, then, because I know that Mustang would just love to see this," Havoc told her, still looking at the small, intricate circles engraved on the back of her auto-mail hand.

"Yeah… I bet he would…" she trailed off softly.

Havoc looked at her out of the corner of his eyes as they walked back down the hallways to her room in the section of the military headquarters designed for visitors. 'She looks so sad,' he thought. 'What happened to all that confidence and energy she had just a moment ago? Maybe it's just nerves…'

Trisha was nervous, she would willingly admit to that, but being reminded about the transmutation circles on her auto-mail hand – what's more, having someone recognize them! – filled her with a sadness she couldn't quite describe. Those circles reminded her of where she went, what she had done, who she had met, and, most importantly, who she was.

…

**Wow… that's pretty deep… I love Havoc! Only 1 (or is it 2? I lost track… damnit…) more typed chapters to go! Please review! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	8. The Last Exam

**A/N: The crap is really hitting the fan now! Whoooo! This is hot! Yeaaah! Ok, enough of that... oh, just in case anyone decides to try and complain, yes, I am fully aware that "automail" is not normally spelled with a hyphen like the way I do (auto-mail) - I just think it's cooler that way, that's all; that and it's a little easier to read.**

**I do not own FMA – but do I think that Arakawa-san may want to get in on this story :)…**

…

Chapter 8: "The Last Exam," or "Transmutation Circles"

The next morning Trisha woke up early – a little _too_ early. The practical exam didn't start until noon – the clock on the wall said that it was 6:30 in the morning.

"Oh, well," she yawned, stretching. "I guess I may as well get up now… maybe even walk around the grounds a little." She left a note on her door letting Havoc know where she was in case he came to look in on her. 'After all,' she thought, 'he was instructed to look after me. I'd hate for him to get in trouble because I wasn't where I said I would be.' With that thought, she left the room and walked around the parade grounds in front of the headquarters building. She sat down underneath a tree at the edge of the parade grounds, thinking about the exam that would take place a few hours later.

…

"Well, did she pass her physical?"

"Yes, it appears that way – it also appears that the doctor either had a seizure, or… Hmm… I can't even read this…" Roy muttered, squinting at Trisha's medical file.

"Oh, yeah – haha! Yeah, I know what he… Whoa! He really did have a seizure!" Havoc marveled, peering at the file in the general's hands.

"Havoc, what are you talking about?" Roy demanded, beginning to sound annoyed.

"It's like… some kind of weird language, or…"

"HAVOC!" Roy shouted, "What the hell are you talking about!"

"Take it easy, chief! I mean, it's not like she – "

"Performed a taboo? Edward's her father for crying out loud! Of course that's what I think she would did, Havoc!"

"'fraid not, general. Well, almost not." Havoc told Mustang cheerily.

"and just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Roy fumed, glaring at Havoc with his one good eye.

"What I mean is that she got auto-mail without necessarily performing human alchemy like Ed and Al did."

"So she does have auto-mail… Hmm… Interesting… No wonder the doctor found her so intriguing… no one on base has seen a soldier, alchemist or otherwise, with auto-mail since Edward…"

"Don't forget Archer, chief," Havoc teased.

"Hmph, yeah, him too, I suppose," Roy said in a serious tone, not noticing Havoc's attempt to purposely rumple his feathers. "But what do you mean by 'not necessarily' performing human alchemy?" Roy asked, quickly getting back to the subject at hand.

"Well, this is only her theory, but she might still be paying for Edward's attempts at human alchemy all those years ago."

"Oh?"

"Yeah; Edward gave up his right arm to get his brother's soul – and apparently it wasn't enough – Trisha was missing _her_ right arm when she was born."

"Really? Well, you don't say," Roy said, his tone darkening and his eye narrowing. "So tell me, Jean – what else did this girl tell you?"

Havoc looked at his superior apprehensively, his face dotted with small beads of sweat, but began to relate his and Trisha's conversation from the previous day anyway. He knew Mustang wouldn't ask if he didn't have a good reason or some kind of concern; and based on the look in the general's eye, Havoc knew that Roy had a _very_ serious concern indeed.

…

After telling Mustang about Trisha's auto-mail, from the train accident al the way to the transmutation circles Havoc had noticed on the back of her auto-mail hand, it was time to leave to observe the practical exam taking place on the parade grounds. Roy and Havoc continued to discuss the mysterious transmutation circles on the back of Trisha's right hand.

"There were quite a few; pretty small, actually, in a kind of arc at the top of the back of her hand, near her knuckles," Havoc told his superior and friend while pointing out the location of the circles on his own hand. "Like I said, some of them looked familiar, but I couldn't tell you what they were for or where they came from."

"And I wouldn't have expected you to. But the fact that you recognized them makes me wonder…"

"General! General Mustang, sir!"

"Hey, wait up! I can't run that fast!"

"General Mustang, Lieutenant Colonel Havoc!"

Havoc and Roy stopped walking and turned around to look behind them, curious and surprised as to who could be shouting and running towards them in such a hurry.

"Sirs!" saluted Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery and First Lieutenant Vato Falman with impeccable military precision.

"Huff… huff… huff…" wheezed Major Heymans Breda as he doubled over, crouching with his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.

"Sir!" shouted Fuery, "there's trouble out on the parade grounds, sir!"

"Trouble?" Roy asked, turning to get a better look at Fuery, his brow furrowed. "What kind of trouble?"

"Sir! A riot has ensued among the applicants for the position of State Alchemist, and the military police are having trouble restraining them, sir!" Falman shouted in response, snapping to attention.

"Tsk," Roy said disgustedly. "Why are we even bothering to test these people if they don't even have enough sense to save their fighting for the battlefield!" Roy shouted as he stormed off down the hall in the direction of the parade grounds, fuming.

Havoc shrugged his shoulders and turned to follow Roy, the other soldiers scrambling in his wake, taken aback by the general's somewhat uncharacteristic outburst.

…

When the group arrived at the parade grounds, Roy in the lead, they were all shocked. The situation had escalated since Fuery, Falman and Breda had gone to retrieve Mustang. The parade grounds had erupted into absolute pandemonium; the alchemists were fighting full-force against the military police who had been deployed in order to take back control of the situation. Mustang looked around himself in utter disbelief, his subordinates all huddled behind him. Suddenly a voice rose over the crowd, coming from the crowd of alchemists who were trying to fight past the blockade of military police guarding the door into the main building which Roy and his men had just come out of.

"There he is!" the man shouted, his voice like a bullhorn, carrying across the entire parade grounds for all to hear.

"It's that damned Roy Mustang!" The noise on the parade grounds grew louder as shouts of retaliation turned to ones of indignation and rage.

"Get him!"

"That's the alchemist general! Kill him!"

The crowd of alchemists swelled, overtaking the barricade of military police as they ran towards where Mustang and his men stood only a few yards away.

"Get him! Kill him!" the crowd shouted as they raced towards the general.

Mustang quickly thrust his right hand into his pocket. It emerged wearing a white, cloth glove with a red transmutation circle on it; he raised his hand above his head as the rebels ran began to close in on him when –

"SNAP!"

A wall of flames leaped up, blocking the path of the rampant alchemists who were only a few feet away from the general.

"What the – !" Roy exclaimed, stepping back and lowering his hand.

"What just happened!" Fuery shouted, "the general didn't even have time to transmute!"

"I don't know!" Havoc yelled back over the noise of the flames and the shouts of the blockaded alchemists. He knew as well as the others that fire was Roy Mustang's specialty; to have someone else perform the same feat – snapping their fingers and producing a controlled flame – was certainly shocking.

"SNAP!"

The barricade lengthened and connected, trapping the rebels within a circle of flames.

"Aaaaargh! What happened!"

"Who did this!"

"That damned Mustang! Get him!"

A few of the alchemists, blinded by rage more than anything, tried to get through the barrier of fire with force and alchemy.

"SNAP!"

The circle of flames turned into a circle of water, swelling and crashing in on itself, engulfing the rebels.

"SNAP!"

"CRACK!"

A bolt of lightning, seemingly out of nowhere, came down and hit the small sea of alchemists, sending sparks across the invisibly contained water.

"Aaaaaagh! Nooooo!"

"Owwwww!"

"Aaaaaah!"

The alchemists screamed from the shocks of electricity conducted through the water.

"SNAP!"

The water evaporated, leaving the rebel alchemists out cold on the ground, steam and mist swirling and rising around them. The military police, Roy and the others continued to stare in disbelief.

"You really ought to be more careful, you know."

"Huh?" Roy turned his head about, looking for the source of the voice through the steam.

"If you don't do a better job of screening your applicants, you're going to keep getting members of old terrorist groups rallying everyone against the military like they did today."

The owner of the voice emerged through the thinning mist, taking no care to try to avoid stepping on the prone figures of the rebels on the ground.

"Well, general," Trisha said coolly, "I believe that you owe me one; and since I am the only applicant left, I also believe that I have officially earned the title of State Alchemist."

Roy and the others stood dumbfounded, too shell-shocked to move or speak.

"And," Trisha continued more softly as she came and stood in front of the general, saluting, "I believe that you owe me a moment of your time like we agreed."

There was silence from everyone there, even from the people who had been watching the spectacle from the windows of the headquarters building. Roy continued to stare at her. Suddenly he threw his head back and began to laugh uncontrollably.

…

**Whew!… That was a long one! But why is Roy laughing so hard? Guess you're gonna have to wait for the next chapter! Mwahaha! Speaking of which, I gotta get my little butt in gear! I'm all out of typed-up chapters! Oh, the humanity! **

**Please review! Let me know if anyone is OOC or if there are any passages that don't make sense. Thx! (NO flames, please! Unless they're from Roy! Lol!)**


	9. Edward

**A/N: Okey-dokey! It looks like quite a lot of people are reading this! Yayy! I just wish you all would review... snif... Alrighty, then - here is chapter 9, all typed up and ready to read! I've started on chapter 10, but I have to take the SAT tomorrow morning (I think I already mentioned that... I hate standardized testing...) so I probably won't have chapter 10 up until sometime Saturday (probably in the early evening...) Please review! Also, please read "Roy and Riza's CrackedOut Car Ride" - I wrote it for my friend... if some of the comments don't make sense, don't worry - they're supposedly inside jokes amongst my friends in marching band with me (I say supposedly becuase I have no idea how they got started...) Ok, it's way too late- I can tell becuase I've become a rambling fiend! AAHH! Please review! Thank you! Wish me luck tomorrow:)**

**I do not own FMA - but I had better find my admission pass so I can get in the dang building to take the dang SAT tomorrow morning... ("no, mommy, I don't want to go! no!" ... ok, I'm done now...)**

Chapter 9: "Edward"

"Hahaha!" Roy laughed heartily as a disgruntled Trisha walked next to him down the hallways of the Central City military headquarters. "You really are Edward's daughter, aren't you?" he asked her jovially.

"Hmph!" Trisha said hot-headedly, avoiding eye contact with Mustang. "I still don't see what's so funny."

Mustang was escorting Trisha to the registration office so that she could officially sign on to the military and to pick up her uniform, and then later to his home so that she could meet Riza; the general had left the clean-up of the once-again Elric-damaged parade grounds to his men – as usual.

"You have to understand," he told her, smiling; he was in a much better mood from having such a good laugh. "What you did was something only Ed would do."

"Like what?" Trisha looked up at him as they walked, trying hard to retain her outward showing of indignation but failing miserably.

"Well," Roy began, noticing Trisha's softened tone and piqued interest at the mention of her father, "for whatever reason, Ed always felt like he had to one-up me; so, he would often-times end up making a big, extravagant mess out of some easily-handled situation, then come up to me and say, 'You know you owe me one for this, Colonel,'" Roy chuckled. "And I suppose that there were a few times where I actually did…" he trailed off softly, deep in thought with a sad smile on his face.

'This must be hard for him,' Trisha thought, 'Havoc and that man Armstrong did both mention once how Mustang was always kind of over-protective of my father and my uncle…'

"You know, you look a lot like Edward, too, now that I come to think of it," Roy said, snapping out of his reverie and breaking Trisha's train of thought. 'I wonder just how similar they are…' Roy thought. "In fact," he said, "you're just about as short as he was, too."

"WHAT! Who are you calling so small that they can't even be squashed with a fine-toothed comb!" Trisha screamed as she threw a tantrum.

"Hahaha!" Roy began to laugh again. "Wow… you really _are_ Ed's kid… I had a hard time believing it at first, but you just convinced me!" Roy beamed at her. 'Wow,' he thought, 'Fullmetal's actual daughter. I certainly never thought I would see _this_…'

Trisha turned red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said, "my mother used to tell me how my dad would always make a scene and end up embarrassing himself with his tantrums, and I guess I just went and did the same thing…"

"Well, it's good to see that you at least inherited Al's manners. I was worried at first – your mother, Winry, was often just as much of a hot-head as Ed was," Roy told her as he chuckled.

"You actually knew my mother, too?" Trisha asked, a surprised look on her face.

"A little bit – not as well as Ed, though. After all, the first time I ever saw Edward he was at your mother's house."

"Really? She never told me that…"

"I suppose not – he and your uncle, Alphonse, had just attempted to transmute their mother – your grandmother."

"I know – I'm named after her, you know."

"You don't say…"

"Uh-huh. My mom said that I look like her too; except for my eyes – they're blue like my mom's."

"I can see that," Roy said kindly, noticing her quite excitement in being able to talk about her mother. "Were the two of you close? You and your mom?"

"Oh, sure! It was just us, after all – my great-grandmother, Pinako, died a few years back. I never knew my mother's parents, either…"

Roy visibly tensed.

"… in fact, when I asked about them once, my mom said that a man named Roy Mustang had killed them during the war in Ishbal… is that true, sir?" Trisha asked softly, eyes downcast.

Roy walked silently, almost as if he hadn't heard her question. Trisha became silent, too, disheartened and afraid that she had upset the general to the point that he would never tell her anything more about her parents – or even speak to her again, for that matter.

"Here we are," Roy said in a dull tone, stopping in front of a door towards the end of the hallway. The sign on the door read 'Registration Office.' Roy opened the door for her and stepped back, waiting for her to walk inside.

"Sir," Trisha said, turning towards Mustang, her eyes filled with regret and pleading. "Sir, I just… I just want you to know that my mother, she – she forgave you, before she died."

Roy looked down at her, his expression blank. He noticed the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"She… she also said," Trisha continued, faltering, "that she always did have a great amount of respect for you… even though she didn't want to, or didn't know why…"

"…Ok," Roy said, giving her a small, sad sort of half-smile before turning to leave. "I expect to see you back in my office as soon as you have received all of your paperwork and have picked up your uniform," he told her in his normal, superior and commanding tone of voice. Mustang walked back down the hallway to go to his office, his back towards Trisha.

"Sir…" Trisha tried to say, choking back tears – she couldn't really say what was making her so upset. But Roy only waved his hand as he walked away, leaving a sad and confused-looking young alchemist standing in a doorway that would spell out her fate.

**Oooh! Was that cool or what! Long, too!Roy is sooo pissed off! Well, maybe... you're just gonna have to wait to find out! Mwahaha! (But I'm sure most of you can figure out why he's upset anyway...) Please read and review! You'd make me very happy! Almost as happy as if I got to take a ride in Alphonse! (Haha! Not that Al, my friend's car... she named it Al... because it's a big piece of metal that just so happens to be kind of cute :) heehee...)**


	10. Transmutation Circles

**Whew! Chapter 10! Finally! After you're finished reading it you'll probably understand why it took me so long to finish it! You guys should be impressed – I did about 30 minutes of research online about alchemy symbols and transmutation circles for this chapter… some of it was actually really interesting. More interesting was what I found under my bed while trying to find a copy of _Anime Insider_ that had a whole article (complete with pictures) about the transmutation circles used by different characters throughout the show (issue #19, if you're interested…) And now to get some sleep… I woke up at 6:30 this morning to take the damn SAT – and on a Saturday, no less! Ah, well, such is my life… Please read and review! **

**I do not own FMA – but I do have a couple of issues of _Anime Insider_ that are about FMA…**

Chapter 10: "Transmutation Circles"

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in," Roy Mustang called out. He was sitting at his desk, trying to get through all of his paperwork. 'That riot really made a mess of things; now I have even more work as usual. Why is it,' he thought, sighing to himself, 'that I haven't been able to get anything done around here since "Lieutenant Hawkeye" left and became "Mrs. Roy Mustang?"'

"Um, sir?..."

Roy looked up, surprised to hear such a meek voice. "Oh – Trisha! Come in."

Trisha walked in timidly, unsure of herself and her relationship with the general following their rather one-sided conversation earlier that day. 'The military is the only thing I have left,' she thought to herself, 'so what'll I do if General Mustang hates me? I didn't mean to make him mad… but I suppose I gave him every reason to be upset with me…' Trisha hung her head as she stood in front of the general's desk.

"Please, sit down – and stop moping. You're making me depressed," Roy said as he turned his chair to look out the window, his back to her.

"S-sir, uh, about this afternoon," Trisha began as she took her seat, "I…"

"What are you talking about?" Roy asked sharply, turning his good eye towards her. "You have no reason to be sorry – you were asking a question. I had no reason to act the way that I did."

"But, sir – I realize now just how… well, mean that could have sounded to you. I should have known better than to ask you a question about the Ishbal war – my mom told me that everyone has scars from that…"

"You know, this is really beginning to bug me…" Roy said harshly, his brow furrowed.

Trisha's eyes widened as she sat up in her chair, taken aback by the general's spiteful-sounding comment.

"…I don't think you're Edward's daughter at all – he would never apologize for anything. Maybe Alphonse was your real father, instead…" Mustang said, leaning back in his chair in order to better see Trisha out of his one remaining eye. He winked at her and smiled, letting her know that he was only teasing and that he wasn't upset. Trisha went limp in relief, slumping back in her chair.

"So, then, let's see them," Roy said, now fully turned around and looking her straight in the eyes.

"Excuse me!" Trisha all but screamed, now once again ram-rod straight in her chair. 'Is he some kind of pervert!' she thought, panicking.

"What are you yelling about? I just wanted to take a look at those transmutation circles on your hand that Havoc was telling me about…"

"Wha – ? Oh – yeah! Haha! Silly me!..." Trisha said as her face turned crimson with embarrassment. 'I can't _believe_ I just did that… I really have been traveling too much on my own…' Trisha had, after all, run into her fair share of trouble – drunks hassling her as she went by, soldiers trying to get her to go to their hotel with them… it had only happened a few times, but it was one time too many in her book.

She took the glove off of her right hand and held her fist out for Roy to see. He stared at the back of her hand for a while, looking closely at the 6 tiny transmutation circles etched into the metal. He frowned.

"Where did you find these?" he asked her severely.

Trisha looked up, surprised by Mustang's tone of voice. "Well," she started, "I found them in one of my father's old notebooks… I guess he had left it behind when he went back to the other side of the gate, because it was my mom that showed it to me."

"What did the notebook look like?" the general demanded of her, still scrutinizing the back of her hand.

"Uh, well, let me think… it was black leather… pretty small, actually… Oh! It also had the military's insignia on its cover…"

"So, that's what happened to it," Roy said, leaning back in his chair.

"Sir?"

"Your father's notebook – it was military issued – he was instructed to keep data on his missions in there, but used it for his own research. Alphonse, your uncle, had tried to find it the first time that Edward left; he hoped there would be information in there on the Gate…"

"But it was missing?"

"Yes. After both brothers left, _I_ tried to find it, in hopes that Edward would have information about the Gate."

"Well, maybe he left it at my mom's house…"

"That's certainly a possibility… but do you have it with you now?" Roy asked her intently, looking her squarely in the eyes.

"Yes, I do, but… there isn't much information on the Gate in it – that was one of the first things I looked for when my mom gave it to me."

"Can I read what it says anyway?" Roy asked in a way that made it clear that this was not a question, but a direct order.

"Of course," Trisha said quickly, pulling it out of the pocket of her coat.

"Hmm… yet another similarity between you and your father," Roy said as he reached his hand out to take the journal from her. "Your father wore a coat with a flamel on it also… except his was red," Mustang smirked at her.

"Yeah, I know – but red just isn't my color," she smiled back at him sarcastically.

"Hmph," Roy smiled to himself, obviously pleased. "Tell you what," he said, looking back up at her, "go change into your uniform while I read through this a little. And when you get back, I'll tell you all about what's inscribed on your hand – it's obvious you have no idea where those circles came from."

"Yes, sir!" Trisha saluted her new superior officer, then turned to leave for the bathrooms down the hall. She was glad that Mustang was going to explain everything to her – truth be told, she knew as much about those circles as Havoc did – which wasn't a whole lot.

…

When Trisha re-entered the room, Mustang was leaning forward with his elbows propped on his desk, Ed's journal sitting in front of him.

"Very nice," he said, admiring Trisha's uniform. He smiled at her. "You know,

Ed always did refuse to wear these uniforms like the rest of the military."

"I don't understand why… they're actually not half-bad," Trisha said as she picked at her uniform jacket. Her traveling clothes were folded neatly in her lap.

"Here you go," Roy said, giving her back the notebook. She immediately put it in her pants pocket. "Now, about those circles… we'll start with the one on the right end of the arc," he said as Trisha studied her own hand closely, locating the circle that Roy was talking about. "See how it has two double rings with a large, upright triangle in the middle?"

"Uh-huh…"

"And the three smaller triangles pointing outward, each one passing through one side of the first triangle? Do you know what it's for?" Roy asked her in his usual, stoic manner.

"Well… no, not really, but I do know, from reading through alchemy books, that it's a fairly simple one – it can be used for basically anything."

"That's pretty much right; but do you know why it was in your father's journal? Do you know _who_ it came from?"

"No… which is part of the reason why I'm here," she said, looking at Mustang somewhat harshly.

"I understand," he sighed, "I just wanted to see if you knew…"

"Then does that mean that you don't?"

"No."

"Well, then whose is it!"

"Alphonse's – your uncle's."

"Really? He used to use this one?"

"Yeah… that was pretty much the _only_ one he ever used; at least when he was armor, anyway…" Roy sighed again, sinking back into his chair. "And the one next to it – the second one from the right?"

"I don't know that one, either," Trisha said, starting to get annoyed. 'Why is he just beating around the bush like this! Why would I even be here, bothering with all of this, if I already knew!"

"Well, do you know what the main circle stands for? A circle with a line through its horizontal axis, and an arc on the top and bottom? If you know that, you can use that circle without a problem." Roy looked her straight in the eyes, as if to say, 'You had better know what you're dealing with.'

"…Earth."

"Very good. If I remember correctly, two young boys once posed as Ed and Al – they had extensive knowledge of plant-based alchemy. That circle is similar to the one they used."

"Ok… the Earth, plants, got it…"

"Now, the one towards the center, the third from the right, that's also very simple; yet if you know enough about the composition of what is around you, you can use it extensively and more precisely. That goes for all of these circles, by the way," Mustang said, giving Trisha another "look."

"I know. You have to understand, I learned everything I know about alchemy through words, not pictures. I could tell you composition of a number of things: I just need to know which circle goes with what."

"Fair enough; that circle, by the way, is similar to the one Al uses – just a basic transmutation circle – except there is a central triangle pointing downward – that represents water."

"Well, that's handy – one for earth and one for water – and then one for anything else in between."

"Ah, not quite," Roy said as he gave her the faintest hint of a smile. "The one next to the symbol for water – it's a little more advanced looking than the other ones so far, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I noticed that… there are more symbols…"

"Hmph. I can't believe Ed actually copied that circle down… I never would have thought…"

"Why? What didn't you think?"

"I told you how your dad liked to one-up me, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, that's why it's so weird that he would have that written down to the point that you could duplicate it and use it… that also explains earlier this afternoon… with that barrier made out of fire…"

"Huh?"

"That one – the third from the left – that's _my_ transmutation circle."

"Yours?..."

"Yes – that's what gave me the title of the 'Flame Alchemist.'"

…

"Wow… that's… that's… I don't know…"

"So, now that you have my special transmutation circle, I ask that you use it wisely," Roy told her, giving her a gentle smile.

"Of course, sir… I'm sorry, I really had no idea…"

"I'm guessing that Ed's notebook also talked about snapping one's fingers to use those transmutation circles?"

"Yeah, he did – wait, how did you know that?"

"Haha… because, Trisha, that's my idea too – I use special gloves made out of spark cloth, then use the circle to change the oxygen density to feed the flames. But I guess you're able to make a spark by rubbing metal on metal, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir, I suppose you're right…"

"Well, moving on, let's see what we have next," he said, leaning forward to look at Trisha's proffered hand. "Ah, yes, a much more specific version of the air part of the transmutation circle that I use – I suppose that's how you were able to create that lightning?"

"Yes, sir – I changed the electric charges in the air, letting the spark created by snapping my fingers travel down along it."

"Very good, indeed. That's exactly what it's for – once again a simple circle, but this time the central triangle is upright with a line passing through the top of it. Very good," Roy nodded to show his approval. "So far you have a very balanced array of transmutation circles – earth, water, fire, and air – the most basic of the natural elements. And now for the last circle – the one on the far-left side of your hand… surely you know what it's for by now?"

"Yeah – it's like the one on the far right – it's used for anything and everything; except this one has one big triangle inside the circle pointing downwards, and a smaller triangle inside of that pointing upwards. I guess I mostly just want to know who it's from."

"That one was your father's."

"My dad's? Really? But there were so many advanced circles written down in his notebook – some of them were so powerful looking – I think they were for human transmutation; so why would he use one as simple as this?"

"That's what he used before he could transmute within himself – by clapping his hands together and forming his own circle – or at least I believe so. But as for those other circles, I saw those too when I read through that journal a few minutes ago. They were for human transmutation – among on other things…"

"What kind of other things?"

"… for the Philosopher's Stone…" Roy said, his eye vacant-looking as if staring off into space. He was deep in thought. "I suppose, upon retrospect, that I shouldn't have told you that, but I believe you would have found out anyway by some other means," Roy said, returning back to himself.

"Don't worry, sir… I've learned enough from other people talking about my dad to know that the Philosopher's Stone _isn't_ an all-powerful object."

Roy smiled at her. 'Maybe children _are_ always smarter than their parents,' he thought.

"Well, enough of this, it's getting late and my wife said she'd kill me herself if I didn't take you to meet her," Roy said as he got up from his chair and walked across his office to where the door was.

"W-what! Go and meet your wife? But… I…"

"Don't worry – she's an old friend of Ed and Al's, too. Besides, she knew your mother better than I did, maybe it would be worth asking her about, don't you think?" Roy looked at the apprehensive young alchemist in a somber yet not unkind way. "Come on," he said, holding the door open for his newest alchemist. Trisha obediently walked out into the hallway ahead of him, now looking forward to the meeting with the general's wife – the prospect of meeting someone who knew her parents always made her excited. Roy followed her out, locking the door to his office behind him. Crimson light poured through the office window, flooding the room as the sound of receding footsteps echoed through the halls.

…

**Holy crapimoli, that was a helluva long chapter! You guys seriously have _no_ idea how long that took me – in case you didn't notice, I had to take the alternate title from chapter 8 and give it to this one – this chapter was originally supposed to be partnered with chapter 11, but it didn't fit once I was done. As a warning, the next chapter is going to be a little on the short side. After that they'll be longer (hopefully not quite as long as this one), punctuated with short chapters, depending on how things naturally get put together. Thanks for reading, now please review! Even if all you want to say is "Woohoo! Go New Fullmetal Alchemist! You rock my auto-mail loving socks!" That's cool. Nothing wrong with that. Also, please red "Ed with an AXE" – it's pretty good, I think, once again written for a friend (a little something on the humorous side to put you in a better mood after this 'warm and fuzzy' kind of chapter). Thanks! Please review!**


	11. Taken

**Whew! That took longer than I had originally planned! And a lot longer, too! _1858 words! _Can you believe that! I sure can't... Anyways, that's (part) of the reason it took so long - I found that I had a lot more to say than I had originally anticipated! Haha! That and there was a tornado/severe thunderstorm warning where I live for about 5 hours today... not to mention the fact that it's spring break and my family has spent the last 3 days trying to figure out what in the world we're going to do... I wish we could just stay home... I have homework to do, not to mention an audition to practice for (yes, that's right, I'm a 'band geek' - and proud of it!) Anyway, enough of this, I'll talk more at the bottom! Haha! Thank you for the 2 or so loyal readers who continue to review! It's amazing how many people have read this story so far compared to how few are reviewing... maybe no one is registered? Yeah, I'll go with that... it makes me feel good! Haha! Sorry! Please read away! **

**I do not own FMA - but I did finally get volume 8 of the DVD yesterday! (I've been a little lazy... but I still haven't watched it becuase I loaned it to my friend becuase I thought that I woud be out of town right now! Grr... sorry...)**

Chapter 11: "Taken"

"So," Roy asked her, "what made you decide to etch those transmutation circles into your hand in the first place?"

"I didn't," Trisha responded.

"You didn't?" Roy quickly turned his head around.

"No… They kind of just… showed up overnight."

"When?" Roy asked her, once again beginning to get a serious look on his face.

"The night I first read through my father's journal – it was pretty late in the evening when my mom gave it to me, so I kind of just skimmed through. I think it had something to do with my subconscious, because I had a really weird dream that night about the circles I had just looked at in his notes."

"What kind of dream?"

"It was weird – there would be a flash, like of fire, or lighting, or just a flash of blue light from a typical transmutation. As I saw each flash, I would see the alchemy circle used to transmute it show up on my hand. Finally, after each of the six, there was this massive circle in front of me, but it was glowing so bright it was hard to make out what it looked like – then there was a huge flash of white light from it… and then I woke up," Trisha told him simply.

"Hmm… so you think that there was some seventh alchemy circle you saw in his notebook that showed up on your auto-mail?" Roy asked her as he began to formulate theories.

"Yeah – that's what I thought, too, but there wasn't anything on my hand, and when I went to look back through the book in the morning…"

"Nothing matched what you had remembered seeing?" Roy finished for her.

"Yeah – exactly!"

"Hmmm…" Roy turned away from her, deep in thought. He had been afraid of this… when he had looked through Ed's notes he noticed that there was obviously _something_ missing from one of the pages, and he had a bad feeling about what that something was…

…

"So…" Trisha began slowly, "general… uh, about my State Alchemist title…?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say?" Roy asked, snapping out of his trance.

"My State Alchemist title – aren't I supposed to get some kind of second name?"

"Haha – yes, you are, actually. My wife doesn't think that I should give you this name, but there's no way I can't _not_ give it to you!" Roy said laughing, thinking back to his wife's dark prophecies of curses…

"Really? What is it?" Trisha said with a mix of apprehension and excitement.

"Do you know what your father's symbolic second title was?" he looked at her gently.

"Yeah – the 'Fullmetal Alchemist'…"

"Well, you are now officially the '_New_ Fullmetal Alchemist.'" Roy told her with a smile.

"Really? Wow! That's so cool! 'The New Fullmetal Alchemist!' This is so exciting! I got my dad's name… I got my dad's name!" she cried, jumping up and down.

Roy beamed at her. "I thought you would like it… Oh, and I have something else of your father's that you might be proud to have handed down to you."

"There's more?" Trisha said, eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"Hahaha! Yes, there is! Here," he told her, holding out his hand. In it was Edward Elric's silver pocket watch.

…

Trisha gasped. "Where on Earth did you find this! My mother said that even _she_ never knew what happened to it!"

"Well," Roy said they stopped next to the wall that led between the general's house and the headquarters building, "back before your father went through the Gate the first time – when Al was still a suit of armor – it got lost during a battle in the town of Lior…"

"Lior… I've been there! That's where I met that alchemist named Armstrong – he said he used to be a part of the state military as well," she said excitedly.

"You're right, he did; well, a couple of years ago some of my men found it in an older part of the city that still hadn't been reconstructed. They immediately gave it to me, since they knew that only state alchemists carried those watches around. I knew it was Ed's when I read what was carved on the inside of the lid…"

"… 'don't forget, 3. Oct. 10'…" Trisha finished for him.

"That's right – how did you know that?" Roy asked her surprisedly.

"My mom told me – she said she had looked at it once, even though he never told anyone about what was written there – not even my uncle."

"… Yeah, that sounds like Ed, all right," Roy said tiredly. He ran his free hand through his tousled hair, sighing as he did so, and thinking about all of the "Ed moments" there had been over all those years… and all so long ago…

"You really did care about them, didn't you?" Trisha asked kindly, her head cocked slightly to the side.

"Huh? What kind of question is that?" Roy said in a startled manner, realizing too late how mean he had sounded.

"My mom told me that you always looked out for them – my brother and uncle –Armstrong and Havoc said the same thing, too. I guess I just never saw it before… I couldn't tell…"

"Well… it's certainly nothing I can really explain… Your dad was such a handful, and your uncle was always so kind – he would help anyone of my men out whenever he and your dad were in Central. Didn't matter the job, he'd just do it… Ed, on the other hand, refused to accept any other job than taking care of his brother, and finding out a way to get him back in the flesh," Roy reflected, deeply sighing. He furrowed his brow, thinking even farther back. "I guess that the more I came to realize just how much they had gone through, the more I felt that I needed to be there for them… especially after meeting their father, Hohenheim… After meeting him, and seeing Edward's reaction towards him, I realized something; those boys basically had no father – physically, yes, he was their father, but he never really did anything for them… I felt that I should be the one to take that place – I already had in several ways, but I had never admitted to it. It was so easy to do – after all, Al was so easy to get along with, and Edward… well, Edward reminded me of myself in some ways… his stubbornness for one, I suppose." Roy laughed, thinking back to _his _younger days in the military… before Ishbal. "Shortly after meeting Hohenheim was when everything with the military and the homunculi really began to unravel; when I realized just how much I cared for those two – as if they were my sons. But of course, the more I opened up to it, the more your father fought me – he had made up in his mind that he would hate me, even though I think his heart told him otherwise – or, at least that's what I would _like_ to think…" Roy looked down at the ground, eye unfocused on anything… except for the past.

Trisha respectfully waited after this confession… It was probably the most the general had said to her at once since she had come to Central. She couldn't help but feel sad and angry at the same time. 'Why, dad?' she thought, 'Why would you hate him? What could he have done to you for you to simply shrug away everything that the he had tried to do for you?'

Roy, sensing her thoughts, looked up and told her, "It was because I didn't tell him that my friend – his friend – Maes Hughes had died. He was angry that Hughes had been murdered, as he should have been, but decided to take it out on me for not telling him about it. I can't say that I was happy with that decision, but I knew that I would rather have him mad at me than try to track down Hughes' killer on his own, which I knew he would – he would've abandoned everything that he and his brother had worked so hard for. Instead, I went after the Fuhrer – he had had a hand in the entire thing… and that's when… well, that's not important right now," Roy said softly as his left hand brushed gently over his eye-patch while his right hand still held Ed's pocket watch. "What is important," he continued with a forced smile as he tried to forget the past, "is that we're late – my wife might kill me if we're not home soon." Roy smiled at her as he turned to continue walking down the path along the wall, knowing full well that what Trisha had heard as a playful joke would very much be a reality if he and the girl weren't to his house within the next five minutes. "Oh! 'Fullmetal!'" Roy said, turning back around. Trisha looked up, surprised, and pointed to herself. "Yeah, you! Catch!" Roy tossed the silver pocket watch into the air, making a graceful arc in the cool night sky as it fell towards Trisha. She shifted the bundle of clothes in her arms, freeing her right auto-mail arm. She extended it, holding out her hand and catching her father's precious watch with a smile.

A flash of blue-white light erupted from the wall behind the two alchemists, blinding them both. A split second later the flash was gone, and so was Trisha.

…

"Trisha?" Roy called out as his eye re-adjusted to the darkness – 'something is wrong,' he thought. "Trisha? Fullmetal? Hey! Trisha!" Roy ran to the wall, watching in a mix of horror and disbelief as a dimly lit transmutation circle dissolved back into the stones of the wall. "Trisha!" Roy yelled, beginning to panic. "Where are you?"

With surprising agility for a man his age he hoisted his torso up onto the wall, which stood a foot taller than him, allowing him to see the what lay behind the wall, hoping that she had just simply passed through it – all he saw where the parade grounds illuminated by the stars and street-lights – and completely devoid of life as far as he was able to see. He jumped back down, frantically searching around where Trisha had been, passing his hands quickly over the stones, trying to bring the transmutation circle, and Trisha, back. "Trisha!" He bellowed, "TRISHA!"

…

"Oh, god," he said, the words catching in his throat as his stomach dropped, "she's gone – she's gone! Shit!" he shouted. "What am I going to do? Ed's daughter – Ed's daughter is gone! Shit!" he said again. "Ed would kill me! – _Riza_ is going to kill me!"

And with that he sprinted back towards his office at headquarters, hoping against hope that members of his unit were still there working late – he needed to assemble an investigation team to find the alchemist – _now_. It was just what the general had been afraid of… afraid of from the very beginning…

…

**HOLY CRAP! Did you guys just read that! WOW! We're really getting into it now, my friends! Please review! Oh, and I'm sorry, but it may be a few days before anything gets uploaded - we may finally leave for somewhere tomorrow! But don't worry, (most of) chapter 12 will be written by the time you get back! Know what's weird, though? I have a bunch of large chunks of the last couple of chapters written out already. Seriously! But nothing is really completed becuase some of it depends of what I write in the middle... but I'm too lazy to do that... I would really rather do eveything from here on out as a movie... Oh, by the way, I hope you guys have brushed up on your Harry Potter, becuase I want to go by the book, but I may not at some points becuase I couldn't find what I was looking for.. I'm going to depend on you, my readers and reviewers, to make sure that I stay on course! Thanks! Please review!**


	12. Once More

**Ok - I totally meant (well, not really, but I got half-way through and thought this would be really cool instead) to do this! This chapter is short - _really_ short! Almost as short as Edward, but not quite! Oooooh! Things are really getting going now! Also notice that the title of this chapter has less to do with what happens and more to do with a repeating (Ok, so it only happened twice - I ran out of good ideas)phrase in the chapter. Well, read and enjoy! (But don't be angry! Chapter 13 will come along in due time!)**

**I do not own FMA - but I did buy a Roy Mustang (drool...) key chain at Hot Topic! My mom won't let me have it until my birthday, though... she said she's all out of ideas for what to get me... figures... **

* * *

Chapter 12: "Once More…" 

"ZZZAAPPP!"

A bright light pierced through the darkness, illuminating the bare skeletons of leafless trees, their shadows cast back through the mist, giving the illusion of grasping claws and fingers reaching out to grab at some unknown victim. Seconds later the light was gone, leaving the wooden giants as eerie sentinels looming over the huddled figure of a person on the ground.

"Errr… w-wha…?" the figure groaned as it lifted itself, woozily, into a sitting position. "Wh… where am I?" Through the darkness and mist the figure glanced around, trying to take in what little could be seen from the surrounding darkness.

"SNAP!"

"Huh? Who's there?" the figure called out, voice shaky with hidden panic.

"Heh-heh-heh… So, you join us at last – Trisha Elric!" a voice laced with malice called out from beyond the vision of the young alchemist.

"What? But how did you – ?"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" the voice screamed as a flash of green light penetrated the darkness a few yards from the girl.

"Shit!" she cried, "Please work!"

"CLAP!"

A bright blue light erupted, charging the air with bolts of alchemical energy, and then – darkness once more…

…

"Bloody hell! Did you see that?"

"What on Earth was it?"

"I have no idea – but it can't be good! Come on!"

The sound of running footsteps grew fainter as the owners of the voices crashed through the thick forest – leaving in their wake silence once more…

…

* * *

**Was that sweet or what? Ok, I know, I know, it was short... But can you guess who's who and who's where! I was going to include Mustang in this one, but I couldn't think of a really good "once more..." that would fit the style of the first too... Oh, well... Please review! How do you like it so far, is it good? Does something not make sense? If it's a punctuation error, it probably happened when it got uploaded to the sight - nothing I can do about that... for example, there are a bunch of places throughout the story and my author notes where I want to put a question mark followed by an exclamation mark - but the stupid program deletes the question mark, making a question that is supposed to be asked with excitement sound like a really stupid statement! Anyway! Please review! Thanks:)**


	13. Confrontation

**I'm still mad that I can't do a quesiton mark followed by an exclamation mark... Oh well... Ok, this chapter is longer than the last one - sorry, but it was much more effective from an author's stand-point to split chapters 12 and 13 the way I did. I though the whole "once more..." thing was pretty cool - this is another case of this - almost. There are two confrontations in this chapter, hence the title. I was going to do three (again) but this turned out much better! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

**I do not own FMA - but I am debating as to whether I should buy the trading card game or not...**

Chapter 13: "Confrontation"

Papers flew and people scattered all over the office as phones rang and voices shouted orders. In the midst of this chaos General Mustang stood at his desk, looking out through the dark window at the place where the young alchemist had been with him only minutes before.

"Sir! Phone call for you!" Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery called out to the general – luckily for the commander all of his men had still been working late at headquarters, allowing for the search for Trisha to begin immediately – no time could be wasted.

Roy Mustang quickly grabbed the phone receiver. "Yes?" he said.

"ROY!" a voice shouted through the phone.

"Uh-oh…"

"He's in for it now…"

"We're _all _in for it now…"

"R-Riza! T-take it easy," Roy said nervously, trying to back away from the source of the fury out of habit and instinct.

"I will not take it easy! How could you lose her? What happened?" the general's wife pleaded through the phone lines, concern apparent but anger unabated.

"I don't know, I – " Roy tried to say.

"Well, you had better find her!" Riza shouted at the man she had always worked under but still swore to serve and protect – not as a soldier, but as a wife.

"I know, Riza… I'm trying…" Mustang said tiredly as he heard the phone click, his wife having hung up on him. He sighed, the phone receiver still in his hand as he slumped over, putting his hands on his desk for support.

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Havoc, Major Heymans Breda, First Lieutenant Vato Falman, and Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery all looked over at their weary commander, their eyes focusing on the phone still in his hand – they had all served under Mustang for a number of years – even before they had met Edward and Alphonse Elric… They knew what the former sniper was capable of… almost as if one body and one mind, Mustang's subordinates all quickly turned towards the door behind them, as if expecting First Lieutenant Hawkeye herself to come bursting through the door, firing off rounds at anyone who wasn't working. Mustang looked up too – it would be just like her to pull a stunt like that, even if she was four months pregnant. The general sighed and sat in his chair.

"Well?" he asked to the room in general, "What are you waiting for? Get back to work!" he commanded. He sighed as he pulled out various files from his desk drawers; no matter how long he had known her, he still was afraid of his wife's wrath.

Mustang's men began to work at a frenzied pace, their adrenaline pumping from their near-confrontation with the stern former Lieutenant.

…

"_Lumos!_" a voice whispered in the darkness.

A small beam of light burst forth, casting shadows on the faces of three young individuals who were huddled together at the base of a large tree.

"Thanks, Hermione," a boy with dark, messy hair and a pair of glasses said.

"Yeah – too bad we can't light a fire or anything, I'm freezing!" the second boy said as his teeth chattered, his red hair and freckles violently illuminated by the small light.

"We can't Ron, you know that – we're running enough risk just using wand light!"

"I know, I know," the boy called Ron said to the mousey-headed girl seated next to him. He held up his hands to the light emitted from the tip of the girl's wand, as if trying to warm himself.

"Come on, you guys – we'd better get moving. I have a feeling that all of those flashes of light came from somewhere near here."

"Ok, ok, slave-driver, we're coming," the red-head groaned as he got to his feet.

"What do you think it was, Harry?" the girl asked the bespectacled teen beside her.

"I don't know – I was just about to ask you that," he said.

"Well, either way," Ron said, "it's probably nothing that – "

"BONK!"

"Owww!" Ron shouted.

"Be quiet!" Hermione hissed at him. "What did you do?"

"I ran into this – this big rock thing!" Ron said as he held his hand to his nose, checking for blood.

"Whoa…" Harry said in awe as he gazed up at the massive stone structure that Ron had run into. "_Lumos!_" he said, shedding more light on the rock, revealing its dome shape; yet the light from the two wands was not nearly strong enough to illuminate the entire thing, making it difficult for the threesome to see how tall it was, or how wide.

"What in the world?" Hermione asked as she put a hand up to the rock. "There have never been any mountains in these forests before…" she said in a hushed voice. "I read so…"

"Well, Hermione, have you ever thought that maybe your books are wrong?" Ron said in an annoyed, somewhat vicious, manner.

"Well, excuse me, but at least I – "

"Guys! Keep it down!" Harry said suddenly and urgently. "Did you hear that?" he whispered.

"…snap!" the faint sound of branches breaking met the teens' ears.

"Bloody hell! Harry, you don't think – ?" Ron started.

"Shhh!" Hermione shushed her companion. "Come on, it came from over here!"

The three of them walked gingerly along the base of the giant stone dome towards the sounds they had heard.

"… _wheeze_, …. _wheeze_, …."

"What on Earth?" Hermione whispered, wand held high so that they could see what lay before them.

"… crunch!" the threesome heard some feet away from them.

"_Nox_!" Harry and Hermione whispered together, casting the three friends in darkness once more.

"Who's there?" Harry called out quietly.

"BAM!"

"Wha – ?" Harry barely had time to say before being slammed up against the large rock dome.

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron both shouted.

"Grrr…" a husky voice rumbled through the darkness, the hand belonging to it grasping Harry by the throat and holding him up against the stone, his feet off of the ground.

"H-help!... St-stop… it…" Harry choked out, gasping for breath as the grip around his throat tightened.

"Who are you?" the voice growled. "Are you one of them, too? Do I have to kill you, also?..." the voice trailed off, the grip on Harry's throat tightening – he couldn't attack the person who held onto him – they were probably a Death Eater, and there could be more of them in the shadows.

Ron and Hermione tensed, barely able to see Harry in the darkness – they knew just as well as Harry did that their situation was delicate enough without trying to stupefy the attacker.

"_LUMOS_!" Harry bellowed, holding up the wand in front of his face, hoping that the light would blind his foe – Harry screamed, unprepared for the eerie, gleaming silver eye that confronted him.

…

**Whooee! How you like them apples? Pretty cool, huh? Don't dismiss the dome-shaped rock... it will be explained in the next chapter (sorry, but I can just imagine some of in the next chapter reading and going: "Huh? What rock?") ... So, can you guess as to what's happeneing yet? No? Good - it means you have to wait until the end like everyone else! Mwahahahahaa! Next chapter will probably be even longer. Also, not all of the chapters are going to switch back and forth between Mustang and Harry and the gang - only when I think the general needs some checking in on - after all, I'm sure he's slacked way off on his paperwork since Riza became his wife instead of his co-worker! But who knows, maybe she still does do his paperwork... Please review! Thanks:)**


	14. Magic

**Ok - in light of a recent review, here is something that I've been meaning to say for a while but didn't think that I would actually have to: I love FMA - and I love it for many reasons. One of these is the characters - they each play a vital role in the FMA storyline (especially the anime), and I love them all - I've had a complaint that I spent too much time on them. Well, maybe, but keep in mind that I'm totally creating what happens after the FMA movie - I'm also inventing rules and backgrounds and explanations where there previously were none - I'm trying to stay true to the anime storyline, but if inventing something that wasn't there before makes my story better, then I'll do it - so long as it doesn't conflict with something else. Also, I write everything for a reason - sorry if some of you found previous chapters trivial, but like I said - each character is important to me, so I want to take the time to develop each one - becuase it's the details that are important, and those details are the key to this whole story. So anyway, read on! Tell your friends! Stay up all night reading it! Whatever you do, don't forget to enjoy the story - or review:)**

**I do not own FMA - but I am wearing my ultra-cool red FMA shirt with the flamel on the back:)**

Chapter 14: "Magic"

"What in the world?" Ron shouted, staring at the girl holding Harry up by the throat. 'She's about our age,' he thought, 'But why is her hair _silver_? Like some old woman's?'

"Let him go!" Hermione screamed, rushing towards Harry and shouting "_Lumos_!" at the same time.

Harry, slightly panicking, used his wand-free hand to grasp at the arm holding him – he felt something hard. He pulled back the sleeve with a quick jerk and gasped.

"Oh – !" Hermione gasped, quickly drawing her hand to her mouth.

"What – what on Earth _is_ she?" Ron cried, staring.

Harry could only stare in disbelief at the arm holding him up – it was made of metal.

Harry dropped gently to his feet as the girl let go of his throat. Her eyes began to close – she wavered, then fell to her knees, groaning, as if from pain.

"Errr…" she moaned, clutching at her sides while she lay doubled-over on the ground. "Please…" she hoarsely whispered, "Please tell me that you're not one of them…"

"One of who?" Harry asked quickly, kneeling down beside the girl – 'There's something about her,' he thought, 'Something that lets me know that she isn't really trying to kill me – she was just protecting herself – the same way we are. What was it? I saw it in her eyes – it's what scared me – there was something there… was it fear? Maybe, then, she's just… scared.'

"Harry!" Hermione cautioned him, "Be careful! She almost killed you!"

"Hermione, look!" Ron said, having lit his own wand. He pointed to the girl on the ground. "She's bleeding…"

"What? But still, that doesn't mean – "

"One of who?" Harry asked the girl again, cutting his friend off quickly.

"I don't know…" she replied weakly, not looking up. "They… they all wore masks… hoods… dressed in black… they said things… odd things… there was… green light… everywhere…" she panted, still clutching at her wounds.

"Green light – and masks? Harry, you don't think it's them?"

"Yeah, Ron, I do – Death Eaters."

"But then that means they're still around here somewhere! We have to go – _now_!" Hermione told her companions urgently.

"No… they're… back a ways… I stalled them… I hope…" the girl wheezed.

"Really?" Ron asked incredulously, "How?"

"Alchemy…" she replied quietly.

"Alchemy?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes… that rock… behind you…"

"Yeah?" Ron asked, prompting her.

"It's the second one… the second one keeping them in…"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, all thoughts of escaping taking a back seat to her curiosity.

"It's a dome… They had tried to hurt me… kill me… they knew my name… But I tried… tried to fight back… I knocked them out… maybe some are even dead… I don't know," she said as she slowly began to sit back up, regaining some of her strength.

"Yeah? Then what?" Harry asked, curiosity and concern mixed on his face. 'Are the Death Eaters gone? Did this girl get rid of them? Or did she just hinder them a little? But how did she even do it?' the thoughts raced through his mind as the girl continued to speak.

"Well… after I noticed… that they all stopped moving, I used alchemy… to shut them off… I put a small dome over them… using the rock in the ground… it was really thick… to try and shut them in… but that was a while ago… I ran as far as I could, then made another dome… bigger this time, in case they were able to get through the first… hoping that they wouldn't be able to run into this one…"

"If they even got that far," Ron said, slightly impressed.

"Exactly," she told him faintly, eyes unfocused in the darkness.

"Alchemy? But that's practically a dead science! How do you know how to use it?"

"So…" she said airily, breathing becoming more steady, "this _is_ the other side of the Gate, then…" her eyes narrowed and she stared at the ground, lost in thought.

"The… what?" Ron asked, looking lost.

"Honestly, Ronald, don't you ever pay attention in classes?" Hermione asked, hands on hips.

Ron shook his head.

Hermione sighed. "Ancient alchemists – and even some scholars now – believed that there was a passage way between this world and the next…"

"Oh, like Heaven, or something?" Ron asked.

"No – " the girl's voice cut in.

Hermione stared at her, finding it hard to comprehend why this girl would have the gall to try and argue with her.

"Not like Heaven…" the silver-haired girl said, "On the other side of the Gate… is a world… a real world… where Alchemy is the greatest science of all the others…"

"Kind of like magic is here." Harry put in, thinking about how every summer for almost seven years he had passed through a magic archway to reach Diagon Alley – leaving the world of Muggles behind on the streets of London.

"Magic…? Well, I suppose…" she said hesitantly, still looking at the ground, "what exactly is magic? How do you use it?" she asked, slightly confused. She had heard the word "magic" before, many times – often used by people who were unfamiliar to alchemy. She knew that "magic" meant wondrous things that many only ever dreamed of – but it could actually be _used_? In a way similar to alchemy? This was world was nothing like the one that Trisha had imagined her father being in…

"Well, there's no time for that, now, anyways – we have to get going!"

"Aw, c'mon, Hermione, why? She stopped them, right? You heard her!"

"Of course I did, Ron, but that's also exactly why we need to get going!"

"I suppose you're right," Harry said, "the Death Eaters have probably apparated their way out by now. We should probably do the same," he said as he began to stand up.

Trisha held onto his shirt-sleeve, keeping him in a crouching position. "I'm sorry," she said humbly.

"What?" Harry asked, his confusion evident.

"For earlier… I didn't mean to hurt you like that… you guys just scared me, that's all… You have to understand – I have no idea where I really am or how I even got here… I saw lights, and heard your voices… I didn't know if you were people I could trust or not… I'm sorry," she said again, trailing off.

Harry looked at her, thinking. 'I would be really scared, too – but what does she mean that she doesn't know where she is or how she got here? That's kind of suspicious, but she really does seem like she has no idea where she is.'

"That's ok," Harry said, getting to his feet, "We didn't know if you were someone we could trust, either – which is why put our lights out – if you really were a Death Eater, we didn't want to give you an easier time of finding us," he said.

"It's kind of funny, isn't it?" Ron asked happily, "She was frightened of us and we were of her – good thing we didn't attack you," he said to her.

"Hmph! I suppose, but let's get going already," Hermione said huffily. She didn't like this new girl one bit… there was still something about her that Hermione didn't trust.

"But – what are those? Death Eaters, I mean," the girl said, picking up a bundle of clothes on the ground, then sitting up and leaning against a tree for support.

"We'll explain that later, too – right now, hold onto our hands – we're going to apparate into Hogsmeade." Harry said as he helped the girl to her feet.

"Where?"

"Just hold on," Hermione commanded crossly, pulling the girl over to stand with them.

"Say, what is your name?" Ron asked as he joined his hands with Harry's and the girl's.

"Trisha," she said, looking up for the first time, silver eyes illuminated by Hermione's still-lit wand, "Trisha Elric."

Then there was a popping sound, and the group of four vanished, leaving the darkness of the forest behind them, the large rock dome looming ominously above the mist.

…

**Wow! Bet you people weren't quite expecting that, were you? Haha! So, Trisha is finally over in Harry Potter's world! About time, huh? Oh, and no, none of you missed anything about the silver eyes - all will be made clear shortly! Mwahahahahaaa! Please review:)**


	15. Hogwarts

**Woohoo! Trisha's officially in the world of Harry Potter! But first, a confession: from here on out chapters will be posted a little more slowly - my spring break is almost over and I've gotten almost nothing accomplished in the way of research and studying for school; also, I have the entire ending panned out already - but not very much for the middle. See, I find the characters and settings of HP to be overly complex; if it wasn't for book 6, my job would be a lot easier; except I don't _want_ to disregard book 6 - therefore making my job one heck of a lot harder. Hence, I've decided to cheat a little - some things will be accomplished in the story becuase others will have done them, outside of the circle of four (Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Trisha); this is mostly becuase I've beenfairly fresh out of ideas as far as what happens in HP since book 6 - quite frankly, I have no idea how JK is going to pull this one off. But my ending is good - have no fear! Everything up to that point may not be as detailed, though. Also, all of the HP characters are going to be fairly OOC - I find Harry's angstiness extremely annoying (I almost walked away a quarter of the way through book 6), but I think I have Hermione's little attitude down pretty well. And Ron - well, he's just Ron. So please continue to read, review, and tell your friends! Thanks a bunch! Enjoy!**

**I do not own FMA - but I do have the official FMA calendar, which totally kicks ass! And Roy (drool...)is on the September picture - my b-day month! Eeeek! ...**

Chapter 15: "Hogwarts"

There was a wooshing noise, and then "Pop!" the group of four arrived out of nowhere on the corner of a small, dimly lit street in the middle of the night. Trees moaned as a breeze passed through their branches. Trisha shivered – fall was obviously on its way in this world – she couldn't quite remember though – was it spring when she left Amestris? Summer? Either way it was a perfectly normal weather for the nation – sunny and just a little bit warm – but hardly ever warm enough to not need a jacket. 'My jacket,' she thought, looking down at the clothes she was wearing. Her newly issued uniform jacket was torn and bloodied. She sighed. 'Well,' she thought, looking at the bundle in her arms, 'at least I still have my civilian clothes…'

"Come on," Harry said to her urgently, pulling her forward and out of her quiet thoughts.

The small group ran down the dark streets of Hogsmeade, heading towards the large castle that loomed on top of a rather large hill. Trisha felt tired just looking at it – she had already used up so much energy already… she was fading fast. But the strong pull on her jacket sleeve and the looks on the faces of the three people she had just met in the forest told her that now was no time to be weak – Trisha didn't have a choice – she had to run.

…

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!"

The knocks on the large wooden doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry echoed throughout the Great Hall, several sleepy faces poking heads out of doors, wondering, 'What in the world could be going on at this hour?' as the shouts of prefects ushered them back into their dorms.

A very irritably, very pale, and very tired-looking Professor McGonagall hurried to the doors, her wand out and ready. She opened the doors slightly, gasped, and then through them open all the way. Several people, previously returning to bed, poked their heads back out as others joined them and the prefects gaped. McGonagall called out to several professors nearby, urgently asking them for help. By now half of the inhabitants of the castle had collected themselves on the steps and landings, looking down at the sea of professors in the entrance hall, swarming around whoever had just arrived.

"Clear the way! Clear the way! Everyone get back into your rooms! NOW!" a Hufflepuff prefect shouted, going up the stairs and ushering everyone back into their rooms. Once the halls were empty and the silence rang out once again, the small knot of teachers in the entrance hall all began to talk at once.

"Where have you three been?"

"Who is that?"

"Is she hurt? There's blood everywhere!"

"How did you manage to get here?"  
"Why weren't you here at the beginning of the term?"

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

This last question, posed by none other than McGonagall, came flying at the group of teenagers with seething fury, silencing the rest of the teachers.

"Poppy!" she barked.

"Yes, ma'am?" The plump little lady asked as she stepped forward.

"Take this girl up to the infirmary – you two help her," she instructed the nurse and two other teachers.

"And now you three – you're coming with me!"

Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked behind McGonagall, heads down as they avoided the stares of the other teachers. As soon as they had climbed the stairs and turned the corner, the entrance hall was filled with chatter once more.

…

"Sit." McGonagall commanded, gesturing to the chairs that were in front of her desk – what used to be Albus Dumbledore's desk.

The three sat down in her office, Harry, for the most part, slightly angry and sad about having to sit in that office – especially since he knew that the bearded wizard he had come to respect wouldn't be there also.

"Where have you three been?" McGonagall asked worriedly.

"We already sent you an owl – we're not students anymore." Harry told her blankly, arms crossed, a scowl coming over his face. He didn't even feel angry, but for whatever reason he felt that he had to make it appear that way.

McGonagall sighed. "I know that," she said, "but why are you here now? And who is that girl?"

"Her name is Trisha Elric," Harry told her bluntly.

"Professor – " Hermione cut in, quickly looking up.

"Yes, Hermione?" McGonagall asked quietly.

"I don't – I don't think we can trust her!" Hermione said rather quickly.

"Hermione!" both boys exclaimed, somewhat surprised.

"She claims that she's come from the other side of a 'gate' – like the barrier between our world in the next that I've read about – but what's more, she says she's an alchemist! She also said that she doesn't even know what magic is!" Hermione said, excitement mingling with concern.

"A 'gate?'" McGonagall asked, confused.

"Yes – " Harry said hurriedly, "But never mind that, she fought against the Death Eaters!"

"Death Eaters? How?" McGonagall asked, trying to keep up with the frantic teenagers' explanations.

"With alchemy, supposedly!" Hermione cried, trying to make her point by waving her arms in the air.

"Well, Miss Granger," McGonagall began tersely, "alchemy is not a dead science, you know. After all, the late Professor Dumbledore – "

"Yeah, we know." Harry cut off rudely.

"As I was saying," the professor began again, "alchemy is not entirely a dead science. However, since it relies heavily on energy from an outside source – "

"An outside source?" Ron asked, it apparently now being his turn to be confused.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said tiredly, "While magic is used by channeling energy from the witch or wizard through their wand, alchemy is powered by energy from the world around the user, that energy being channeled through the transmutation circles that alchemists use."

"Oh," Ron said, "Er… I think…"

Hermione sighed, then turned and looked straight at her former Transfiguration teacher. "I know that already, but it doesn't explain how she could use it to stop the Death Eaters – to create and do what she would have needed to would require time to draw those circles – time I'm sure she didn't have!" Hermione continued hysterically.

"Yes, it is rather peculiar, isn't it?" McGonagall said as she leaned back in the chair, thinking. "I suppose," she said, peering over her glasses at the three, "that we'll just have to ask her about it."

…

Several minutes later, the trio, led by McGonagall, walked through the castle up to the infirmary.

"So," McGonagall asked, "how is your search for the horcruxes going?"

"Fairly well, I suppose – we just got an owl from Lupin the other day saying that the Order has been able to track down and locate many of them already, once they knew what to look for," Harry told her. It was the first civil thing he had said to the current headmaster since he had entered the castle almost an hour earlier.

"Well, that's good to hear – I'm afraid I haven't been able to do much for the Order since term started… I don't know how Albus did it…" she trailed off. "Anyway," she continued, "how many more do you think are left?"

"I don't know," Harry said truthfully. "I'm not having as many dreams lately – not from the occlumency," Harry said quickly, noting the look on Hermione's face, "but because I think that he's getting weaker…"

"That would make sense," Hermione chipped in, "after all, these horcruxes are acting as his souls – he's probably saving his strength in hopes of being able to face off against you, Harry."

"Yeah – you have a point there, Hermione," Ron said quietly.

McGonagall said nothing as she lead the now-silent group up the stairs, stopping in front of the infirmary door. She opened it, and stuck her head in. "Poppy – is she up? Good – we'd like to speak with her, please… Yes, would you mind? Thank you." McGonagall swung the door open the rest of the way, ushering the three inside while Madame Pomfrey obligingly locked herself in her office, giving the group some privacy.

But the three young wizards each stopped in their tracks at the sight that was in front of them.

"Bloody hell!" Ron cried out, pointing at the figure in the bed, "What happened to _you_?"

…

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Professor McGonagall had all seated themselves around the bandaged young alchemist. What had perturbed them so much was the fact that she now had brown hair and blue eyes.

"How in the world…?" Hermione asked faintly.

Trisha stared, dull-eyed, at the tattered and blood-stained blue uniform jacket draped over the bar at the foot of her bed. She then silently traced with her eyes the shape of the black flamel on her blue, knee-legth coat – the one she had brought with her from home… Home… it sounded like such a foreign word to her now. She sighed inwardly. She would have to go back to wearing her _other_ "uniform" – the black pants, black shirt, white gloves, and long blue coat – the signature outfit or her father, modified to suit her. She felt somewhat childish mimicking him like that, but it also made her feel more… secure… less alone, somehow…

"Trisha!" Harry said sharply. Concern and worry showed evident on his face – Trisha blinked a few times. She hadn't been aware of how long she had sat there, daydreaming…

"I'm sorry," she sighed, holding a bandaged left hand up to her forehead. "I was just… thinking…"

"Well, young lady, you did give us quite a scare, being hauled into the castle like that – so if you don't mind I believe we are entitled to some answers." McGonagall said curtly but not un-kindly.

"Oh!" Trisha said, "Of course! You're – McGonagall, aren't you? At least I believe that's what the nurse called you…"

"Yes, dear, I am. Now, if we could ask you a few things – "

"How did you get here?"

"Why's your hair not silver anymore?"

"How did you stop the Death Eaters?"

"How many of them were there?"

"Was Voldermort there?"  
"How do you use alchemy?"

"Where'd you get that wicked arm?" Ron said, staring in enchanted curiosity at the gleaming metal hand resting in Trisha's lap.

Trisha said nothing, taken aback and highly bemused by this sudden outflow of questions. 'I had no idea two people could say so much at once,' she thought, baffled.

"Well," Trisha sighed again, scratching at her head with her metal hand in an awkward, embarrassed sort of way, "that's a pretty long list of questions, but then again – it is a pretty long story."

…

**Wow! Ok, so that was a really mean cliff-hanger on my part - totally unexpected, right? Well, there's a lot more I wanted to say, and this chapter is inhumanly long already! (Give me a break - it's almost 1 in the morning where I live and I'm still not feeling well...) But everything I said I would explain in this chapter? Yeah, next chapter... sorry!... Please review! Thanks to nightmare rose for being my bud! Haha! I'm so bored right now... your messages are keeping what's keeping me awake! Haha:)**


	16. Answers and a New Journey

**Wow, you guys! It's chapter 16! I feel so… tired. Three thousand words! Can you believe that? I know I can't… And now, for a formal apology: Things have been going slowly lately, and I'm sorry – I'm just not as enthusiastic about HP as I am FMA, I suppose… that and we were in an infirmary for a while… that makes me think of sick people… and things always go by slowly if you're sick. Well, we're leaving the hospital atmosphere in this chapter, and I'd like to think that things perk up right away! I've also explained a lot (and set up a whole lot more!) in this chapter, so hopefully you'll forgive me for being so dull before – hopefully I've made it up to you guys! Please feel free to send me a message if I wrote something that doesn't make sense – I'll go back through and re-type it! **

**I do not own FMA – but I did just find a cheap prom dress! ($30! Woohoo!) yeah… **

Chapter 16: "Answers and a New Journey"

"Well, you seem to be feeling all right, so if you don't mind, we'd like some answers," McGonagall said, speaking calmly to Trisha, "I hope that you don't mind."

"Oh, no, of course I don't mind!" Trisha said quickly as she turned to face each of the four people sitting around her bed in turn. 'Maybe,' she thought, 'they'll have some answers for _me_, too.'

"All right, then; we'll start with this one: how on earth did you manage to get here?" McGonagall asked somewhat skeptically. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Trisha, waiting for her answer.

"Wow, that's a tough one…" Trisha said slowly. "I can tell you, more or less, how I managed to get here, but I certainly can't tell you why," she said plainly.

"Oh? And why's that?" Hermione asked somewhat snobbishly.

"Because I don't know; I was actually kind of hoping one of you would."

"Is that so?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes. But anyway, I think I came through the Gate…"

"Hey, Hermione! I thought you said that that gate-thingy led to some kind of heaven or paradise!"

"I said that's what scholars _believe_, Ronald. Honestly," Hermione said in disgust.

"Well, the Gate I came through certainly didn't lead to heaven. It all happened really fast, though – I was back in Amestris – the nation that I'm from – and suddenly I felt like I was pulled by my arm through a door; it kept tugging at me, and there was this bright light everywhere; it was like I was in a giant room. I looked ahead, where the pulling came from, and I saw the Gate opening… there was a big flash of yellow light… and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground in the dark. My head hurt, and for a minute I couldn't remember what had happened. Then I started to hear laughter…"

"Someone was laughing?" Ron asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah – they started talking to me… they knew my name! It was like they had been waiting for me all along… I'm thinking it was them that pulled me through the Gate. I felt really angry – I was about to ask what was going on, and why they knew me, but suddenly the someone shouted something… screamed it… I don't know what it meant, but something in my head told me told me run… like I had heard it before…"

"What did they say?" McGonagall asked, face drawn tight with concern.

"I'm not sure… it started with an 'A,' I think; anyway, I started to see this flash of green light, and then I remembered – I _had _heard it before. The night my mother died, someone shouted those same words – there was green light everywhere, and then when I realized what had happened, my mom was dead…"

Hermione gasped. "_Avada Kedavra_!" she whispered, her mouth covering her hands.

Harry said nothing, looking down at his shoes, face contorted with rage.

Ron looked over at his friend, worried.

McGonagall looked from Harry to Trisha and back again. Finally she asked, "So… when exactly did your mother die?"

"A few years ago… I was… younger then… much younger…"

"What do you mean by that?" McGonagall asked, eyes narrowing.

"You see… I'm a… special case…" Trisha said, choosing her words carefully. "Alchemy is a huge part of me… literally. It's in my very blood. It has to do with how I was born… you see, I was conceived through alchemy – and because of it, I don't age or grow normally; when I was little, I would age as much as 4 or so years within a single year. It's gradually slowed down, and now I'm at the point where my growth rate could be considered normal. Also, because of that alchemy being a part of my physical make-up, whenever I do a transmutation, I draw from the energy around me, but also from the energy within myself."

"That's not possible!" Hermione said crossly.

"What do you mean?" Trisha asked.

"To use alchemy from within yourself! How on earth do you do that? And how were you able to draw those transmutation circles so quickly if you really did fight the Death Eaters like you say?"

"Well, I still don't know what Death Eaters are, but this is how I was able to fight them," she said, picking up an empty glass medicine jar from the bed-side table and setting it in her lap before bringing her hands together,

"CLAP!"

"ZZAP!"

"Whoa!" Ron and Harry shouted; Hermione looked on in disbelief. Professor McGonagall simply bent down and carefully inspected the intricately carved glass vase that was now in Trisha's hands. "Poppy will be furious," she said simply, giving a small, rare smile.

"So…" Hermione said slowly, "you don't need circles…"

"That's right. I form a circle by using myself – bringing my hands together, that is. My dad could do it because he saw the 'Truth' inside the Gate when he tried to bring my grandmother back from the dead… I can do it because of what I am."

…

"Basically, then, you're one part alchemy – is that it?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. It's kind of weird, I know, but it does account for quite a lot about me…" Trisha said simply.

"Like what?" Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"Like how my hair and eyes were silver when you guys ran into me in the woods," Trisha told her, looking the young witch in the eyes.

"Explain." McGonagall said.

"Well, when I was little, I used to go outside and play with other kids all the time. There was one day where I absolutely exhausted myself from being out in the heat all day long. When I got home, my mom screamed – my hair and eyes were silver. She thought something was wrong with me; she put me straight to bed, and said she'd call a doctor. By the time the doctor came I few hours later, I had woken up and I was back to normal. What had happened was that I drained a lot of my energy; because in alchemy energy is so easily expendable and so malleable, if I'm not careful I can use up too much energy, and my body will begin to shut down. My hair and eye color is the first to go – the alchemy in my body controls it, keeping it the color that it is. So instead of the alchemy part of me taking over and everything shutting my body down from lack of energy, the more natural and normal part of my body tries to hang onto as much energy as it can by allowing energy to be taken from things that are 'unnecessary,' like hair color. So, my body exchanges brown hair for white hair that involves no cost of energy. If my body didn't do that, my vital organs could be the first things to go. Over the years I've trained myself and built up my stamina and strength enough to the point where I don't have to worry so much about my body gradually breaking down from exhaustion. Except when I fought those men tonight… I was hurt so badly that I was losing strength faster – couple that with those rock domes I made and I here I am in a hospital!"

"But you're fine now…" Ron commented.

"Yeah, I know – some kind of weird thing… a 'potion,' I think the nurse said, just perked me up right away! It gave me such a boost that the alchemy part of my body was able to expend energy to revert my hair and eyes back to normal."

"That's all… a little complex…" Ron said, "About your body taking away energy and using it for something else… So, what would happen if you just kept going? When you say your body would shut down, do you mean that you would just faint or something?"

"No… it means that I would die… If my heart stopped working, I would die; I also wouldn't be able to regain energy fast enough to get it back to working. The only reason my hair can change colors back and forth is because hair is never really alive in the first place – it's just a bunch of pigmented minerals. Same with my eyes – my vision stays the same, it's just the pigment that gets replaced."

"Oh…" Ron said, looking somewhat sad.

"So…" Harry said, speaking for the first time in minutes, "you're an alchemist… you don't need transmutation circles, and you have an arm made of metal…"

"Don't forget my leg," she said with a small grin, mocking offense at Harry's lack of mentioning her left leg.

"Right, that… and the only thing on the other side of this 'Gate' thing is a nation called Amestris… Is that right?"

"Um, yeah, pretty much," Trisha said simply. "It's kind of odd, though. Apparently my dad was in this world too at one point – but apparently he couldn't even use alchemy!"

"Well," Hermione said, taking back her role as lead explainer of anything and everything, "this world is separated – there's the magical world and the non-magical world. It's possible that your father was in the non-magical one where you can't do things like magic or alchemy unless you were born able to do it."

'Hmm…' Trisha thought to herself, 'Maybe that is it… when he went through the Gate, he gave up his ability to use alchemy… I wonder if my uncle had to do the same?'

"Hey, speaking of your dad," Ron asked, snapping Trisha out of her thoughts, "You said that he saw some kind of truth in the Gate – do you think that maybe he only saw our world?"

"I don't know… I have theories, though… I'm thinking that maybe there's more to the Gate than anyone's aware of… I remember passing through a room from a set of doors; apparently all he saw was the Gate standing in front of him, in this huge void. Like maybe… there's a gate within the Gate…"

"Now I'm really confused…" Ron said, rubbing at his head.

"So…" McGonagall said softly, "you're missing your arm and leg and have machines for replacements…"

"Yeah," Trisha said, trying her best not to sound sad, or possibly even bitter. "Hey, wait a minute!" she said, examining her arm for the first time since she got to this world of magic,

"What?" everyone asked, looking up at her.

"Where did they go?" she asked herself, examining the back of her hand. The others bent over and looked to. Trisha began to get concerned… the alchemy circles were gone…

…

The next morning, Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat in the Great Hall. They were waiting for Trisha to come back down and meet them.

'What do you plan on doing now?' McGonagall had asked her the night before.

'I want to be able to eventually get back home,' Trisha had told her, 'but first I want some answers – and the only way that I'm going to get them is by tracking down those Death Eater people…'

There had been no use trying to stop her – there was something burning in her eyes – was it revenge? The three former Hogwarts students had no way of knowing. They just knew that their party was about to become four.

"We probably shouldn't have come," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked her incredulously.

"I mean, Neville, Luna, and everyone else is going to be upset that we just came and left again the way that we did."

"I suppose you're right," Harry said, thinking of Ginny… His thoughts were interrupted when McGonagall came hurrying into the hall.

"I've just received word from the Order!" she said excitedly.

"Really? What is it?"

"Tell us, Professor!"

"Well," McGonagall said happily, "they've just recovered the seventh horcrux!"

"You're kidding me!" Harry exclaimed. "Is everyone all right, though?"

"Oh, yes, they're all fine! Lupin and Kingsley are a little worse for wear, but Mundungus is the one that took the full hit of the curse on that thing… not that anyone's really all that concerned," she said, giving each young Order member a smile. She had been against them joining, but following all of the events just a few months ago… and Sirius' death… the other members (Molly Weasley excluded) had all eventually agreed that Harry, Ron and Hermione should be inducted into the Order of the Phoenix.

"Just a moment ago – Ron's father just sent me an owl!" the new Headmaster replied.

"You still seem awfully excited, though," Ron observed. "Has anything else happened?"

"Yes," McGonagall said somewhat breathlessly, "Fawkes has returned!"

…

Trisha Elric walked down the stairs slowly, transfixed and utterly fascinated at what was perched on her right shoulder.

"So," she said to the large crimson bird, "your name is Fawkes and you're a phoenix, huh?"

The magnificent animal looked at her with dark, sad eyes.

"And your master is gone… well, that's quite a predicament." Trisha was starting to scare herself; she would have been completely freaked out if she weren't so curious. The bird let out a soft, wavering note – like part of a sad song.

"I see," Trisha said. 'This is weird,' she thought, 'He's not saying anything, but I'm able to understand him… Ha! Maybe I have an animal intuition as well as an alchemical one!' She smiled. Fawkes continued to stare at her.

"You shouldn't be so upset – it wasn't his fault," she told the bird, saddened by what he felt. The phoenix continued to stare stonily at her. "Fine," she sighed, "don't listen to me…" Trisha looked again at the back of her auto-mail hand, and Fawkes rode stiffly on her shoulder. 'I still don't understand,' she thought as she entered the Great Hall, 'where did those circles go?'

…

"I still don't understand!" Roy Mustang shouted, exasperated. "Where did that girl go?"

"We still don't know, sir…" Havoc replied wearily. It had been over three hours since the General had come running through the office door… two hours and fifty minutes since the General's wife, former sniper, had scared everyone out of their wits. So far their research had been fruitless. Military police had been deployed, phone calls had been made and files had read through, but there was still no lead on what had happened to the girl… It was turning out to be a long night…

…

"Fawkes!" Harry shouted, springing up. He ran towards Trisha, reaching his hand out to the bird. Fawkes let out an angry cry, gripping his claws into Trisha's shoulders as he spread out his wings defensively.

"Fawkes!" McGonagall chided. She had never seen the phoenix behave that way before.

"Are you ok?" Ron asked Trisha, concerned – Fawkes didn't exactly have manicured nails…

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" Trisha reassured the red-head. "That's my auto-mail arm – he's just digging his claws into metal – I'd be more concerned for him than for me!" she laughed. Fawkes spread his wings farther, lifting off and flying to perch on a chair by the door. Harry looked crest-fallen. He had never had Fawkes treat him that way before…

Trisha inspected the tear in the cloth on her shoulder. "Oh well," she said, clapping her hands together and placing them on her blue jacket with the black flamel, repairing the damage in a flash of light. She had changed back into her own "uniform" – blue duster jacket, black pants, boots, and shirt, and white gloves to conceal her gleaming, transmutation circle-less hand.

Ron looked impressed as Hermione scowled.

"Ok, then, fill me in!" Trisha said, smiling as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Harry, Ron and Hermione had already told her about the Death Eaters, Voldermort, and how he was using horcruxes to stay alive.

"Well," McGonagall started, "we've just received word that another horcrux has been found!"

"Great!" Trisha said, "So do you know how many are left?"

"We think that there are only two more left," Ron told her eagerly.

"That's assuming that whoever 'R.A.B.' was already destroyed one," Hermione put in.

"I'm sure it has been," McGonagall told her, "According to that note it should be."

Harry pulled the slip of paper out of his pocket.

_To the Dark Lord  
I know I will be dead long before you read this  
but want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.  
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.  
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,  
you will be mortal once more.  
R.A.B._

He involuntarily shivered, thinking back to that night… the night that he and Dumbledore had found the locket…

"So that's it, then. Find the last two or three?"

McGonagall nodded. "But don't think that it's all going to be a walk in the park – those things are guarded by some of the most evil curses out there… it'll be dangerous." McGonagall told her sternly.

"I understand," Trisha said solemnly. "So," she asked, turning to Harry, "when are we leaving?"

"Right now," he told her with a small smile.

Harry led the way out of the Great Hall and towards the castle door, Ron and Hermione following. Trisha looked inquisitively at the large bird hunched on the chair. Fawkes spread his wings and flew to perch on her metal shoulder as she followed the others out.

"Be careful," McGonagall told them, watching sadly as the group of four left Hogwarts castle. They would have all laughed in disbelief if they had been told what lay in store for them...

…

**Woo! How did everyone like it? Please review! Let me know if I wrote something that didn't make any sense! I'll go back through! Thanks:) **


	17. Investigations

**Sorry, everyone, I took a little longer writing/posting this than what I had originally anticipated! Sorry! I got to reading a bunch of good fan fiction, and one thing led to another, and, well, here I am! Haha! Hope you like this chapter!A little shorter than what I had planned on, but it's still pretty long! Hopefully the next chapter will be up sometime tonight! Haha!I really ought to start writing more during school! I wish I had a laptop... sigh... Oh, well! Please remember to review and enjoy:) Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates it:)**

**I do not own FMA - but I did get a Roy keychain in my Easter basket! Roy! (drool...)...**

Chapter 17: "Investigations"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly made their way down the dirt path towards a large gate flanked by winged boars. Hermione, walking in the middle, quickly grasped Harry's right hand and Ron's left. Ron turned his head around to look back at Trisha, smiled, and held out his own right hand to hold onto Trisha's left hand – the human hand. Trisha blushed. 'What on earth is he _doing_?' she thought. She was soon distracted when she noticed Fawkes fly up ahead and suddenly burst into flame, disappearing.

"Hold on tight!" Ron told her as they passed through the gate.

"But wait, what about – ?"

Her unfinished sentence lingered in the air; in the blink of an eye, four teenagers suddenly disappeared from view.

…

So far their research had been fruitless. Military police had been deployed, phone calls had been made and files had read through, but there was still no lead on what had happened to the girl… It was turning out to be a long night…

Roy sighed again. He thought hard, 'flash of light… disappearing… transmutation circles… green light… laughing… Winry… Edward… Alphonse…'

"Aaaugh!" Roy cried out. "What does this all mean?"

"I don't know, chief," a weary Havoc responded, "but your wife is here – she wants to speak with you… in the hallway…"

Roy's face paled. His subordinates gave him sympathetic looks as he made his way out the door.

"Good luck, sir…"

"You'll be ok…"

"It ain't like she can do much, anyway…"

"I don't know about that; I did see her at the firing range a few weeks ago…"

"Oh, well, in that case, the General's toast…"

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?" Mustang shouted as he stood in the doorway. "Humph!" he snorted as he turned on his heel and quickly closed the door behind him.

There was silence in the office – pure silence…

"Yeah, you're right, he's toast…"

And with that the men began to resume their work, lest the sharp-shooting Riza should decide to come in and "check on them"…

…

It was the middle of the afternoon on the outskirts of the busy city of London when four teenagers suddenly popped out of nowhere.

"All right, we're here!" Ron said, letting go of the two girls' hands and stretching.

"What… just happened?" Trisha said weakly, clutching at her throbbing head.

Ron laughed. "Sorry about that, mate – we just apparated. Why? You don't remember it from last night?"

"Ron! She fainted! Of course she wouldn't remember!" Hermione said crossly.

"Oh, right, sorry about that!" He said sheepishly as his face turned red to match his hair.

"That's ok," Trisha sighed. "Just two questions, though – where are we and where is Fawkes?"

Suddenly there was a burst of flame, and the magnificent crimson- and gold-plumed bird flew gently over to perch on Trisha's right shoulder.

"Well," she said, having blown her mind so many times already she didn't think anything could surprise her now, "that answers that question two – now, where are we?"

"London," Ron said simply.

"What?" Trisha shouted, incredulous. Maybe there were still some things that could surprise her… "London? Are you kidding me?"

"Why? Have you heard of it before?" Harry asked, sounding interested.

"I thought you had never been to this 'world' before?" Hermione questioned, sounding even more cross.

"I haven't!" Trisha quickly tried to explain, "It's just that I once read about a town called London in my father's journal!"

"Really?" Hermione asked. Her tone softened. She always did have a soft spot for journals and other recorded histories…

"Yeah! Look, I'll show you!" Trisha said excitedly, reaching into her coat pocket. "Huh? Wait! It – it's not here? Oh, no!"

"What, what is it?" Ron asked, concerned.

"My dad's journal! It's not here!"

"When was the last you had it?" Harry asked.

"Well… I did change into the clothes I'm wearing now when we were still at your school… but come to think of it, I didn't have it then either…"

"And you're just now realizing this?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

Fawkes nudged Trisha's cheek with his head, the golden feathers soft and velvety to the touch, startling the girl.

"Oh, yeah! That's right! That was when Fawkes here appeared out of nowhere! The fire scared me so bad, I forgot all about the journal being missing!"

"So, where do you think you left it?" Ron prompted.

Trisha thought for a minute. "Oh, no!" she groaned.

"What?" Harry and Ron asked together.

Hermione just snorted. 'Boys,' she thought, 'They always make fools out of themselves whenever some pretty girl is around…'

"The journal," Trisha said somewhat down-heartedly, "It's on the other side of the Gate! I think it fell out of my pocket when I came over! And there were things in there that I really had hoped would give me some clues as to how to get home!"

"I hope no one took it…" Ron said thoughtfully.

"Hey – that's right!" Trisha said, snapping her fingers as the lightbulb in her head came on, "Mustang! He probably found it! That's great! He can probably figure out a way to get me back!"

"… Mustang…?" Ron and Harry asked as they looked at each other.

…

"Roy, please – tell me what happened," Riza asked her husband as he walked alongside her down the fluorescent-lit hallways. Everything was quiet… no one except people working on Trisha's missing-person case was in the building this late at night…

"Well," he started, absent-mindedly brushing his hand over his eye-patch until Riza gently pulled his hand away, "we were coming back to the house, and we were talking… there was a great big flash and she was swallowed into the stone wall when I stopped to give her…" he trailed off, giving a pre-emptive wince at the comments that were about to come.

"You didn't!" Riza shouted at her husband, "Did you really give her Ed's old watch? And you gave her his name, too, didn't you? Damn it, Roy, I told you that was a bad idea!"

"I know you did, I know!" he shouted back, trying to regain control of the conversation, "But do you really think it would have made any difference if I hadn't? Hadn't giver her that name, hadn't given her Ed's watch?"

"You make it sound like whoever did this was waiting for her on purpose!"

"Maybe… I don't know!" Roy gave an exasperated sigh as they headed towards the front doors of headquarters. "Come on," he told her, "I'll show you where we were then I'll walk you back home…"

"Roy, I already saw," she said seriously.

"Huh?" Roy stopped, hand on the door, "But how? How did you know where it was? Nothing's been roped off yet or anything!"

"Because I found this," she said, holding up a leather-bound notebook with the military crest on it.

"Ed's journal…" Roy whispered as he took it from his wife's hands. "Ed's journal... Riza, that's it!" he cried as he kissed her on the cheek and quickly ran back down the hallway to his office, clutching the notebook.

Riza smiled wisely. "Who says I still don't keep an eye out for him?" she said to no one in particular as she leisurely made her way back down to the office. Just because she was no longer a soldier didn't mean that she couldn't offer any valuable help to the investigation…

…

"Why are we in London?" Trisha cautiously asked Hermione as they headed in towards the busy city. Harry and Ron both sulked behind them. They felt that it was injustice to have to compete with a man with such a strong-sounding name as "Roy Mustang"…

Hermione looked over her shoulder. "They weren't listening when you told them that that man Mustang was your commanding officer and not your boyfriend, were they?" Trisha laughed. "No, I guess not!" she said, smiling at Hermione.

Hermione smiled back. This girl wasn't all that bad, after all… "Well, there are many of the greatest libraries in the world located in Europe, and London has a fantastic one."

"May I ask why we're going to a library?" Trisha asked politely, knowing full well that Hermione still didn't completely trust – or like – her.

"As part of an investigation," Hermione said importantly, looking at the girl walking next to her.

Trisha only stared. 'An investigation…' she thought. 'Maybe this will be a good opportunity to conduct an investigation of my own…'

The two girls walked and thought while the two boys slowly grumbled behind them, all the way to London…

**Well, what did you all think? I'm really trying to develop the characters of HP more to my liking, that and set up some lovely little revelations for the next couple of chapters! Mwahaha! The next one will be dropping a couple of hints, some more obvious than the others; I just hope that the ones that are supposed to make you think aren't too easy to guess at! Ah, well! Next chapter should be up relatively soon! Thanks for reading! Hey, and if you guys like this, go to my profile and check out the C2 community I am now a part of - it's devoted entirely to FMA/HP crossovers! It rocks! Thanks again! Please review:)**


	18. The First Circle, or Chastity

**Hey, people, how's it going? I have to be brief, but I just want to say one thing: I'm sorry. This week has been hell for me. This story was actually done last week, but as many of you know, this site was having some difficulties... But I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's starting to really get good! Eeeek:)**

**I do not own FMA - but I do have an AP US History test tomorrow at 7:30 AM... wish me luck... I'll need it...**

Chapter 18: "The First Circle" or "Chastity"

"Whoa!" Trisha's voice echoed throughout the room, sound bouncing from the ceiling to the walls to the shelves upon shelves of books.

"Shhh!" A librarian hushed, pointing to the "No Talking!" sign posted on the wall nearby.

"Sorry!" Trisha whispered, sheepishly following Hermione to a table at the back of the library. Her eyes roved all over the room, taking in her surroundings. The library was rather large – Trisha knew that the National Library at Central was much bigger, although she had never been in it. That had been her plan – as soon as she was made a State Alchemist, she was going to go and spend hours in that library. Fate, however, had had other plans for her… she had passed through the Gate and was now in England instead.

"Ok," Hermione said, turning around and facing the other three, "Harry, you help me go through and find those books we were looking at the last time that we were here – I'm thinking there was something I may have missed last time... Ron, you and Trisha go to the resource area and look through newspapers and periodicals from the last couple of decades or so – look for anything suspicious that might be linked to Voldermort. It'll help us in the long run if we know more about what he did, where he was, and if there's some kind of pattern."

"Great…" Ron mumbled.

"Ok!" Trisha said, perking up. 'This'll be fascinating!' she thought. 'All that history in one place – I'm bound to find something!'

Ron just stared at her. 'How could anyone be happy about looking at a bunch of old newspapers?' he thought. He smiled. 'She's kind of cool – different, but cool…' Ron then led the way to the resource area at the other end of the library, Trisha following him.

Harry watched as the two left. Once they were out of sight, he immediately turned and faced Hermione. "Did he look…_happy_ to you?" he asked her.

Hermione snorted. She mentally took back any nice things she had ever previously said or thought about the girl in the blue coat.

"Hermione," Harry asked, looking surprised but amused, "are you _jealous_?"

"No – why would I be?" she retorted quickly.

"No reason," Harry said s he lifted a book off of a nearby shelf, "but you know, you really ought to tell Ron how you feel."

"Harry!" Hermione looked up, face flushed a bright red, "I have no idea what you're talking about! I have no feelings for Ronald whatsoever!" she then stomped off to go and find the first book on her rather long list.

"Of course you don't," Harry sighed wearily. He then smiled, thinking about all of the times he himself had tried telling girls how he felt about them – especially Cho Chang, and the Ron's sister, Ginny Weasley… and then how he had finally been able to go out with her… He sighed agan. If only his friend would just open up a little, things would be easier on all of them… _much_ easier…

…

Ron mumbled incoherently as he searched through the racks of newspapers. Trisha tentatively picked up a yellowed paper, having only the vaguest idea of what she was supposed to be looking for, and only a vaguer idea still of how she was going to find the answers that she wanted… she read the date – 1920… 'That wasn't _too _long ago in Amestris,' she thought, 'I wonder…'

"Ron," she called out softly, "what year is this?"

"Huh?" he looked up, blushing. 'She just said my name again…' he thought somewhat giddily. 'Why does my stomach feel so fluttery?...'

"I said, what year is this?" she asked again a little louder. 'Why's he so distracted?' she thought.

"What? Oh, it's 2005!" he told her.

Trisha stared at the newspaper, deep in thought. "How could so much time have passed?" she mumbled. "What's going on?..."

Ron only stared. He really had no idea what to say…

…

Roy looked at the clock. It was almost three in the morning. He sighed. Trisha had been missing for over 5 hours, and they had no physical leads to go on. He turned to look towards his men – they were all asleep, slumped over their desks.

Roy cleared his throat loudly. "A-_hem_!"

Everyone jumped. Fuery hastily straightened his glasses. Falman tried to look like he had been working the whole time. Havoc reached for an after-nap cigarette while Breda peeled a piece of paper off of his face.

"It's all right," Roy said. The men stopped and stared at him.

'He's not angry?' they all thought.

"You've all done well tonight, and I thank you," Roy said softly. "I expect you all back here at 0900 hours. Now go get some sleep."

"Yes, sir!" they all said, hastily saluting and making their way to the door before the general could change his mind.

"Oh, and Fuery?" Roy called out to the retreating figure, who winced.

"Y-yes, sir?" the communications officer asked apprehensively as he turned to face his superior.

"Riza is in the records room, would you mind asking her to come in here?"

Fuery looked at Mustang in surprise. 'Is he… sad?' Fuery thought.

Roy stared back. "Well?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Fuery startled to attention. "Yes, sir, of course!" he said before briskly saluting and hurrying out of the office and down the hallway. 'I've never seen the General so depressed before! He wasn't even this sad when those terrorists killed his child – then again, he was way too pissed off to show _anyone_ how sad he was!' Fuery thought, smiling nervously as he remembered just how livid Roy had been – he had even made Riza look non-threatening…

…

The office door opened slowly. "Roy?" Riza called out, poking her blonde head into the room. She looked over at his desk; he was asleep, using his arms and the mountains of paperwork as pillows, Ed's journal loosely held in one of his hands. Riza smiled lovingly. "Oh, Roy," she whispered softly as she made her way through the cluttered room towards her husband's desk. She kissed him gently on the top of the head, removing Ed's journal from his hand and replacing it with her own hand. She smiled sadly as she stroked his hair with her other hand. "I know this is hard for you," she whispered, not caring if he was even awake or listening. "It's like losing Ed all over again, isn't it?" she asked. She sighed. "That wasn't your fault, you know, and this isn't either. Why do you have to keep blaming yourself?" Roy's hand closed tightly around hers at this remark, as if the thoughts were too painful. He silently held onto her as if wanting to never let go. Riza was silent for a moment as she watched her lightly-sleeping husband. "… I understand," she said finally as she sat with him, holding onto his hand and silently promising him that she would never let go…

…

"WWII OVER!" "ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON NAGASAKI!" "LINDBERGH CROSSES ATLANTIC!" "HITLER TAKES OVER EUROPE!"

Trisha read headline after headline. It was all so fascinating and exciting to her – people she had never heard of, places she never knew of, machines she had never seen, wars she never knew had taken place…

'I know you have to be here somewhere,' she thought, a smile creeping up on her face as her excitement grew.

Ron peeked over at her – the sunlight from the windows lighting up the dust in the air, making it seem like she had a halo. A shiver went down his spine. He gulped. 'I'll do it,' he thought, 'I'll talk to her, I'll – !"

"Oh my gosh!" Trisha squealed.

"What?" Ron asked, close to shouting.

Trisha held up a newspaper, dated 1928, and began to read: "'Two men were arrested in Berlin last week for attempting to break into a laboratory of the University of Berlin. Authorities say they were after the research of university Director Otto Hahn, who is widely regarded for his research with partner Dr. Lise Meitner on the use of artificial uranium isotopes to create a _uranium bomb_!' A uranium bomb! This is _fantastic_!"

Ron blinked. "What?"

"Uranium, Ron! My dad mentioned it in his journal – it was on the last page, just scribbled there, like some kind of after-thought, or a reminder: _uranium bomb_! And it actually exists! It's real! That might've been them! They could've been the ones who broke in!" Trisha's voice grew louder; her heart pounded with excitement at all of the possibilities... She didn't notice Ron's face turning a rather pasty color, his eyes widening.

A librarian was walking up behind Trisha, who was now shouting, "Wait! What's this?" her eyes quickly scanned to the end of the article, "'The two men were going to be put on trial, but the case was temporarily suspended when – '"

"Out!" the librarian screeched, making Trisha jump. "Out, out, OUT!" the woman yelled as she grabbed the paper out of Trisha's frozen hands. The librarian proceeded to shoo Trisha and Ron out of the library, turning to Harry and Hermione as she ushered the red-head and the alchemist towards the door. "You there!" she shouted to Harry and Hermione, who had been seated at a table, taking notes. "You're with them, aren't you? You get out, too! And teach your friends some etiquette!" she spat as she forcefully dragged Hermione away from the table filled with books. Harry sighed and obediently left the library. 'No use making this more difficult than it has to be,' he thought.

…

"Are you guys alright?" Harry asked Trisha and Ron once they were safely out on the library's front steps and out of the librarian's hearing range.

"Yeah…" Ron mumbled, frustratedly kicking at a pigeon, which lazily fluttered away before Ron could even touch it. Trisha stood silently next to the two boys, head bowed.

Hermione stormed past them, angrily marching down the steps and onto the busy London side-walk. Trisha followed after her. "Hermione, please wait! I'm sorry! I really am, I'm sorry, it's just that I – "

Hermione rounded on her. "You're sorry? You're _sorry_? You just show up, add yourself to our group, get in the way and then get us kicked out of the library, and you're_ sorry_?"

"Hermione, I – "

"I don't want to hear it!" she screamed, turning around and stomping off.

Trisha stood there on the steps, dumbstruck.

Harry and Ron hurried up to her.

"It's ok," Harry mumbled, patting Trisha on the back before running off after the raging Hermione.

"Come on," Ron said as he led her by the hand, "let's get going…"

"Ron – I'm sorry! I really am! I though you guys didn't mind me coming with you! I'm really sorry, I – "

"Trisha, it's ok!" Ron told her, wide-eyed. He really didn't want he to start crying… her eyes were already looking moist…

"I just… I'm still not even sure of where I am! I don't know how I got here, and I don't know how to get back! I – I was hoping if I went with you, I could find out!" she sniffed, wiping her eyes with her free hand. 'This is stupid,' she thought, 'I hate crying, and I hate feeling sorry for myself – and now Ron probably thinks I'm an idiot. I have to get a hold of myself, I have to try and find a way back – try and find out what happened to dad…'

…

A few minutes later, Trisha and Ron had caught up to Harry and Hermione. Trisha looked up at the building in front of them – it was small, black, dingy, and largely ignored by the mobs of people passing by in the street. A peeling sign read, "The Leaky Cauldron." They went inside. Trisha's eyes watered from the smoke and dust. She looked around. It was a small bar, dimly lit by the sunshine pouring in through the dusty windows; it took her eyes a minute to adjust from the bright London street outside. But when she had, her gaze settled on a huge, fuzzy-headed creature sitting at the bar…

"Hagrid!" Harry called out, waving.

The half-giant looked up, squinted, and, upon recognizing the speaker, drunkenly waved a rather large bottle of ale in the air.

"Oy, 'arry! Bloody nice day out, eh?" he slurred, chuckling.

"Hagrid…" Hermione said, exasperated.

Ron and Harry shook their heads. Hagrid never could really be trusted in a bar…

Trisha, however, walked up to the man, staring at him in rapt curiosity and fascination.

"You're incredible!" she told him, smiling.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at her, mouths slightly open. She wasn't scared of him?

"'arry, who's yer chum?" Hagrid asked, blinking down at the girl.

"Her name is Trisha," Harry told him.

"Is dat right? Blimey, mate, I do like you! Cheers!" Hagrid told her with a smile as he sloppily raised his glass of ale.

"I like you, too!" she laughed as he downed his glass. Something about the man, despite his outward appearance and intoxicated state, exuded kindness; she knew that this man was about as harmful as Armstrong, and so had no reason to be anything other than friends with him.

"Alright, alright, Hagrid, you've had enough!" a small, elderly man chastised as he appeared from behind the bar. "Good evening, master Potter," he said with a small bow, "your rooms are ready upstairs."

"Thank you, Tom," Harry nodded, turning and going up the stairs, Ron and Hermione right behind him.

"It was nice meeting you, Hagrid," Trisha said to the large man.

He patted her roughly on the head, swaying.

"You (hiccup!) too…" he managed to slur before slumping over in his seat.

Trisha chuckled to herself as she headed up to the rooms, Hagrid's snoring echoing throughout the bar. Tom sighed and shook his head.

…

Trisha sat on the bed in her room, Fawkes perched on the headboard – apparently he had known they would be staying here and had waited for the four teenagers to return from the library. Trisha felt slightly guilty – she had been so excited by the sight of the library she hadn't noticed the Phoenix's fiery departure. He was now asleep, head under wing. Trisha enjoyed the silence – save for Hagrid's snoring downstairs; Trisha was sure that even the people – _muggles_, Ron had called them – could hear it. Either way, Trisha was grateful for a chance to be alone. She normally traveled by herself, and so was unused to being in such a "chattery" group… she needed some time to herself right now… time to think… she remembered a dream she had had the night before, her first night in this new world… Trisha had been sure that it was a nightmare… she remembered cruel laughter followed by bright green light… then, her six "lost" transmutation circles – each one glowed in front of her, accompanied by something – a creature – almost a human… she had never seen them before, but knew their names… Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Pride… and the seventh one… darkness; the light from an immense transmutation circle shadowed it… a circle much like the one from the dream she had had after first reading through her father's journal. She thought back to her conversation with the General that night now so long ago… a mysterious seventh circle… accompanied by a mysterious seventh monster… she shuddered. She knew her father had had to defeat these creatures years ago in Amestris… did that mean that she now had to do the same thing again? Trisha frowned in concentration…

"Knock, knock!"

Trisha jumped at the sudden noise. "C-come in?" she said apprehensively.

Ron entered, looking slightly vexed. "She kicked me out of our room!" he grumbled, sitting down next to Trisha.

"Hermione, you mean? Why?" Trisha asked him, trying to hide her disappointment at being interrupted.

Ron blushed. "Because she wanted to talk to Harry… S-so…" he stuttered, "how are you liking London so far?" he asked her. 'God, that was lame!' he thought.

"Oh, it's great! It's really neat – it kind of reminds me of Central, back home," she smiled at him. 'It's not his fault,' she thought, 'he didn't know… besides, he seems lonely…'

"Tell me about you… where you're from," he asked her, ears turning scarlet. "Do you… have a family? A job? A… boyfriend?" he gulped. He remembered something from an earlier conversation – he hadn't quite been paying attention, of course – about someone named "Mustang" – 'Do I even stand a chance?' he thought, 'What if she _does_ have a boyfriend?'

"Well," Trisha began, "I was born in a little town called Resembool, but I've traveled all over Amestris – that's the name of the country."

"Oh," Ron said, trying to pay attention.

"Yeah…" she said, giving him a side-ways glance. "Anyway – I had just become an official State Alchemist by the General when I got pulled over here."

"Really?" Ron asked, his rampant thoughts still distracting him.

'I wonder…' Trisha thought. "I have a superior officer…"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, you know, Ron – General Mustang."

"He's a _general_, too? What's it take?" Ron cried out, exasperated at having to compete with this supposedly tall, dark and handsome military officer.

Trisha began laughing. "You really don't pay attention, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked huffily, face red.

"General Mustang is my commanding officer – my boss. He's _not_ my boyfriend!" she laughed again. "I don't even _have_ a boyfriend!" she told him, smiling.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

Trisha paused, slightly taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "Because…" she began hesitantly, "I've never had a reason to have one, I guess. That and I didn't think anyone would want to date someone who traveled around so much, much less someone who has auto-mail…"

"I would," Ron said quickly. His heart pounded.

Trisha stared. She had no idea how to respond to that one.

Ron began leaning towards her, bringing a hand up to the small of her back. He slowly began to close his eyes. Fawkes looked on in mild amusement.

Trisha couldn't move – her heart was in her throat – she didn't know what to do. All of her senses were on fire; she felt an intense heat wash all over her, her cheeks flushing crimson. 'He wants to kiss me!' she thought, alarmed – her head didn't know what to do, but her heart cried out for Ron to stop – his lips were about to brush with hers, their noses almost touching… he started to lean forward even more… Trisha began to panic.

"Ron!" she cried out, suddenly able to find her voice.

Ron pulled back a little, startled. Trisha was shaking. She weakly pulled his hands into her gloved ones and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Look, Ron…" she began a little sadly, "I'm sorry, but, I – … _I_ just can't do this! I can't do this to _you_!"

"What do you mean?" he asked her, brows furrowed as he tried to think back, tried to see where he went wrong.

"I mean," she said softly, but still a little shakily, "I can't do this because I hardly know you, and it would be wrong for me to do this when we don't even share the same feelings for each other! Besides, Ron, I don't plan on staying here forever – what would happen if I found a way back home? It would be cruel for us to try and stay together – I can't ask you to come with me and I can't stay here! I'm sorry, Ron…" she trailed off, averting his eyes and staring at her covered auto-mail hand, seeing the transmutation circles that were no longer there…

Fawkes let out a low, quavering note.

…transmutation circles…

"… I understand," "Ron said slowly as he got up to leave. He put his hand on the door handle, his back to her. He waited for her to say something, _anything_ – the there was nothing but silence. He sighed, and with a heavy heart he left, trudging down the ball and back towards his and Harry's room, not caring whether Hermione wanted him there or not…

…

Trisha sat on the bed, a white glove on the floor, discarded. She stared at the back of her auto-mail hand, dumbstruck, a pale blue light illuminating her fcace.

"Oh my god…" she whispered.

…

Harry walked down the hall towards Trisha's room. He knew it was cruel of him to leave Ron alone in the room with Hermione, especially with the mood that she was in, but he wanted to give them some much-needed time alone… that and he wanted to see how Trisha was doing. Ron didn't tell him what had happened, but Harry felt certain that Trisha might need someone to talk to… someone other than Ron. Harry wasn't dense, after all – he could tell that Ron had been fawning over her, and he could also tell just how bewildered Trisha was by it all. He laughed. 'Any girl in their right mind would be!' he thought as he reached to knock on Trisha's door. He stopped when he noticed a glimmer of blue light from beneath the door. He quickly knocked. "Trisha?" he called out. No response. Concerned, Harry opened the door and stepped inside. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. Trisha was sitting on the bed, her auto-mail hand held up towards her face. What's more, her hand was… _glowing_?

"Trisha?" Harry asked again, panic starting to settle in.

Trisha's head jerked up, tears in her eyes. Her hand still glowed. "This is _incredible_!" she whispered, her gaze falling back to her auto-mail.

Harry closed the door and sat down next to her on the bed, careful to keep his distance from Fawkes, who was alternating between looking at Trisha knowingly and Harry ruefully.

The light faded, and Harry gasped. Trisha smiled, tears silently falling down her face. She stared at the small transmutation circle that had reappeared on the back of her auto-mail hand – it was Al's, her uncle's, and it was in the same place that it had been before; the exact same size – it was like it had never been gone. She stared at it, saw in her mind's eye what was still missing, and then thought back to her dream – the seven sins. She realized now what it meant – she had to defeat them, but in a different way from how her father and uncle had so many years ago; she couldn't continue their battle with force of body, but force of mind. One by one she would have to defeat the seven sins with the seven virtues, and she knew that one by one the rest of the circles would then appear, until finally she would be confronted with the last one – the seventh – the only one she had never seen… and then… She continued to cry as Harry looked on, slightly startled. She had just defeated Lust through Chastity; she had finally taken her first small step towards home.

…

**Wow! So, how was it? Why is this text being centered? Damn it... anyway... I am officially stoked about this story! I just talked through the ending with my friend Winterhart (you say anything and you die, got it Winter? That's my girl!) and it will be AWESOME! Seriously, this story is getting sooo cool! Next chapter will be... eventual... school is almost out, and after that you can pretty much expect a chapter once a week! Haha! Please review! I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry again for the wait! Please don't hurt me! OH, and I'll say it again, because some people don't listen: No flames, please, unless they're from Roy! Roy... (drool...) Hope you enjoyed, please look forward to the next chapter! Ciao:)**


	19. Knocking

**Hey, folks, how you all doing? For starters, I'd just like to apologize - I hate waiting so long between chapters like that, but between the end of school, exams, and being gone without a computer for two weeks, I just haven't had a chance until now to update! I'm so sorry! Gah! Please forgive me! Waaaah! Sniff... hopefully you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me! And hopefully this chapter will make up for it, too! Please, please read and review! I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you!**

**I do not own FMA - but please don't kill me for not updating sooner! Agh!**

Chapter 19: Knocking 

"What on Earth," Harry asked breathlessly, "is _that_?"

"_That's_ my uncle's 'signature' transmutation circle," Trisha told him proudly, eyes wet with tears. She smiled. "It's finally back…"

Harry looked at her quizzically. "How?"

"Apparently by doing almost the opposite of what my father and uncle did," she told him quietly. "I have to defeat the seven sins – the principles of them, anyway – through the seven virtures."

"Wow… who would've thought?..."

Trisha laughed. "Certainly not me!" she told him.

Harry smiled at her. "So… I take it that Ron…"

Trisha nodded, chuckling at the thought.

Harry sighed. "He just never learns, that one…"

Trisha laughed again, blue eyes sparkling.

"So," Harry began, staring back at the circle on Trisha's auto-mail hand, "does this mean you'll be able to go home now?"

"I doubt it…" Trisha sighed.

"What do you mean? Don't you know now how to get back?"

"Well, I've always had an idea of a way to get back, I just wanted another option – and I'm hoping that if I can regain each of my circles, the Gate will reappear…" Trisha told him patiently. "But even that might be hard – what with what I just read at the library and all…" she added.

Harry blinked. "You meant to tell me… that you've known this whole time how to get back?"

Trisha nodded solemnly. "More or less; except I'm not even sure if – "

"But why are you coming with us, then? It's so dangerous! You could get hurt, or lost, or – You could _die_!"

"See, Harry, that's the thing!" Trisha said quickly. "I wanted to find a different option if I could, and try to learn something about my father wile I'm here. But you see, I'm not scared of the danger – I'm not scared to die!"

Harry stared at her, shocked.

"Don't you see, Harry? I wasn't born here, this isn't my world! I fi die here, I go back through the Gate and back to where I belong – back to my home! That's why I'm not scared; I want to go with you so that I can try to find my father, but I'm not scared to die in the process – well, actually, no, I'm terrified, but I know that it won't be the end for me because it happened to my father, too! He – " she stopped, noticing the look on Harry's face. He looked ill. "Harry? What's wrong?"

"That's sick…"

"W-what?" Trisha asked, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

He turned and looked at her, a scowl on his face. "How you'd have to die if you ever wanted to get back home – it's awful! How can you stand that?"

Trisha smiled gently at him. "I can't, Harry, but there's nothing I can do about it – right now it seems to be my only option, at least until – "

"So what are you going to do, then, huh?" he asked her viciously, beginning to shout. "I'm sure you don't plan on waiting around here forever, do you?"

"Well, no, I – "

Harry stood up. "Of course not! So, you're just going to kill yourself then, is that it? Well, is it?"

Trisha stared at him. "Is that really what you think?" she asked quietly.

Harry just stood there, face red.

Trisha sighed and turned away. "Harry, I'd never do that – nothing is worth that. If that was all that it took for me to go home, then I might have done it, but now – well, there's more to it, Harry – there always has been…"

"Then why?" he asked her a quiet, desperate voice, sinking back down onto the bed next to her. "Why are you telling me all of this? How you're not afraid to die…?"

"Because…" she said softly, "I wanted to let you know that you don't have to worry about me…" she turned and looked him straight in the eyes. He could see it now – her sincerity, her loyalty – her _pain_…

"Knowing all of that isn't going to make us _not_ worry about you, you know… if anything, it'll make us worry _more_…" he told her truthfully.

She nodded. "I know – but I don't think you quite understand. What I mean is that I don't want you guys to feel like you have to protect me. I'm grateful to you for letting me tag along with you and Ron and Hermione, and in return I plan on doing anything within my power to help you guys – no matter the situation. I want you to know that I'm your friend – but I'm not a friend worth saving – because no matter what, in the end I'll be ok…" she reach out and gripped his hand firmly, letting him know that she would, in fact, be there for him, Ron, and Hermione.

Harry looked at her sadly. "But how? How're we even supposed to know if you're going to be ok or not…?"

Trisha gave him a small smile, trying to hide her sadness and uncertainty. "You're not – you're just going to have to take my word for it…"

The two sat in silence for several minutes, until a loud knock at the door brought them back to their senses…

…

Roy Mustang yawned. He rubbed his bleary eye and sighed. Last night had been a _long_ night… He looked at the clock on the office wall; it was 8:30… Riza had just left a little over an hour ago, and Roy's men would be – _should_ be – arriving any minute now. Roy stretched. He looked out the window at the sun-lit parade grounds, the scars on the earth taking Roy back to – was it yesterday? Or the day before? Roy sighed. He put his head in his hands. 'It _was_ only yesterday,' he thought. He looked up. He could see the wall from his office, a large square of the side-walk taped off by the investigations crew. That was where… he snorted. He couldn't believe it – Trisha Elric – Edward Elric's own _daughter_ – had been in his office not even 12 hours ago – and now… The office was silent, save for the ticking of the clock on the wall. Roy sat there, staring blankly out his window, and thinking, imagining, _trying_ to comprehend – _why_…? His thoughts were soon interrupted, however, when a loud knock came at the door…

…

"Harry!" Ron shouted quickly as he opened the door. "Come over here and take a look at this!" he said breathlessly before turning and running back down the corridor.

Harry got up and hurried after Ron, Trisha gingerly making her way behind them. After all, she had no idea if she was even welcome to join them – although she was more or less Harry and Ron's friend, Hermione had yet to be won over…

…

"Yes?" Roy called out as he quickly composed himself. 'Damn,' he thought, 'I really need a mirror – I probably look like a wreck…'

The door banged open, making Roy jump.

"We're back, sir, and reporting for duty!" Havoc called out with a quick salute. Fuery peeked out from the doorway. "General, did you not get any sleep last night?" he asked, confused. "You look like you got in a train wreck, or something!"

"I knew it…" Roy muttered as he desperately tried to straighten his jacket and smooth back hair, which had a bad case of bed-head.

"No time for that now, Chief! Now come on, we have to show you something!" Havoc said excitedly before exiting the office.

"He's right, General, you really ought to come and see this!" Fuery added before turning and following Havoc.

Roy sat behind his desk and blinked. 'It couldn't be…' he thought slowly. Suddenly his pulse shot up, and he quickly dashed out of his office and ran down the hallway to catch up with Havoc and Fuery, his heart pounding and his mind racing.

…

**So, what did everyone think, eh? I know that this is all some fairly major cliffies, but did I make up for not being able to update sooner? No? Sigh... I didn't think so... Anyway, please review! I hope you at least _enjoyed_ this chapter, and I also hope that you'll look forward to the next one, too! Ciao!**  



	20. Interlude

Chapter 20: Interlude

**A/N: Hello, all! I'm very, very sorry about how backwards everything has been and in how late I've been with updating! School's started back up and I feel about ready to shoot myself… Was summer just a dream? Yup… It was… Sob! Anyway, I'm already working on chapter 21, but I felt that this chapter would be a good time to go back and review, and then add on some new stuff! So, before you decided to totally blow this chapter off, don't! There are new developments to the story, it's just not too terribly long… And so now, a chance for everyone here to catch up and take a breath before beginning anew! **

…

In _The New Fullmetal Alchemist _(A/N: I named myself after my character, not the other way around! Just so you guys know…), it has been seven years since the end of the FMA movie, _Conqueror of Shamballa_, and Ed and Al are still missing. Everyone has been able to more or less get on with their lives, except for some major set-backs. Roy was re-instated into the ranks of the State Alchemists as a general following the attack of the Thule Society in the movie, and, even though he was able to see Edward again, he still hasn't been able fully erase our favorite pint-sized alchemist from his mind. Two years ago from our story's beginning (5 years after the movie's end), he and Riza settled down and were getting ready to have their first child together; unfortunately, rebel factions had grouped together, targeting the children of military and government higher-ups – Roy's unborn son was one of the victims, causing Riza severe injury as well. At the start of the story it is early spring and Roy and Riza, who is four months pregnant, are ready to try and put their lives back together again. However, a knock at Roy's office door sends things scattering again. He is confronted with a girl who claims to be the daughter of the hero Edward Elric – she's named Trisha, after his mother. She's fourteen years old, and was born to Winry Rockbell, who used an ancient, rudimentary alchemy she found in order to conceive her and Ed's daughter after Edward left for the last time. Because of her unusual bringing about and her familial history of alchemy, Trisha grew exponentially – in a single year she would age by three or four years, and so on – the more years that pass, however, the slower the rate of aging – eventually she will reach the point that she ages and grows at a normal rate; she is also apparently still paying for Ed's transactions with the gate – when she was born she was missing her right arm. Years later she lost her left leg as she was trying to save a child in Resembool. She is now equipped with some of the same auto-mail that her father once used. She has light brown hair (like Ed's mother) and bright blue eyes (like Winry), and wears all black, save for a blue trench coat (just like Ed!). Winry died a year before the story began – there was supposedly a flash of green light, and people everywhere – another flash of light, and Trisha's mother was dead. After her mother's death, Trisha decided to roam the country in search of more information about the father she knows so little about – on the way she meets people who her father and uncle encountered on their own journeys, and from some of them she learns different transmutation circles, most of which were also copied down in the old notebook of her father's that she carries with her. Six of those circles have been etched onto the back of her auto-mail hand – she had a dream one night where all six appeared, accompanied by a shadowy figure – even more disturbing was a seventh, mostly unseen circle. When she awoke, the six circles were engraved onto her auto-mail hand in an arc by the knuckles. She now uses these circles to her advantage, even though she doesn't fully know or understand how they work. She eventually goes to Mustang in Central in order to become a State Alchemist. After an impressive display, Mustang agrees, and he gives her the title of "The New Fullmetal Alchemist." Late in the same evening of her passing her alchemy exam, Roy takes her to his home so Riza can meet her. On their way he presents her with Ed's old pocket watch, retrieved from the ruins of Lior. Upon receiving the watch, a mysterious transmutation circle activates in the stone wall they're walking beside, and Trisha disappears – beyond the Gate. In Roy's world, only a day or so has passed, but Trisha's timeline has been moving much faster. She's been pitched in the present time, the transmutation circles on her auto-mail gone, and was attacked by several men upon her arrival, all wielding the same powers that killed her mother a year ago. Trisha defeats them and is able to cover her tracks to the best of her abilities; but using alchemy beyond the gate proves extremely difficult for her – the only reason she is able to use it (wheras Ed wasn't when he went beyond the Gate) is that alchemy is an integral part of her body's make-up – when she claps her hands to transmute, she combines the energy from around her with energy from within herself. But since she is no longer in a world that can easily support alchemy, her powers diminish much faster – and, when that happens, the alchemic power in her body diminishes as well, leaving her body and causing alarming transformations. Her hair and eye color turn white, and her body becomes weak – if she uses too much energy, her heart could stop and she would die. Fortunately she can recover her physical appearances after only a few hours' rest. Harry Potter, Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger stumble upon Trisha shortly after her brush with the strange men – Lord Voldermort's Death Eaters. She mistakes them for more people after her life, and tries to beat Harry to the chase. He's startled not only by the blade against his throat, but the silver hair and silver eyes of his young attacker. After brief histories are exchanged, the trio take Trisha back to Hogwarts, where she joins up with them to find the horcruxes that contain Voldermort's soul. Ron's infatuated with her, and Hermione hates her for it. Harry, on the other hand, seems to be able to relate to her more, most likely because of their similar pasts. After They've just had a conversation about Trisha and her plans for getting home – Trisha says she isn't scared to die, and that perhaps dieing is the only way she can get home. But, thanks to recent findings, such as a news article about the uranium bomb her father had been tracking down, that might not have to be the case. Especially after gently turning down Ron's affections – one of her transmutation circles reappeared, and Trisha finally figured out what she hopes to be a method for getting back to her own home and her own time – defeating the deadly sins (although not quite the same, literal way that Ed did) through the seven virtues. After this revelation, Harry is urgently summoned by Ron; likewise, Havoc has just come and informed a weary Roy that there is something he needs to see immediately…

…

"Hedwig!" Harry cried out as he entered the dusty, dimly lit room of the Leaky Cauldron. He rushed over to the windowsill where Hermione sat with the owl on her knee, rubbing its feathers gently with a turpentine-soaked rag. Harry watched in confusion as with each stroke of the rag Hedwig went from a dirty brown to her usual, stunning white. "What happened to her?" Harry asked.

Hermione gave a quick glance towards the door, spotting Trisha with a small frown. "You have a letter from Professor Lupin," she said calmly as she handed Harry the roll of parchment. "Apparently he thought it wiser to disguise Hedwig than to send an owl less capable of finding us without getting intercepted."

"Oh…" Harry mumbled as he strode forward to take the message from Hermione. "Good girl, Hedwig" he praised as he stroked the snowy owl's now-clean head. Hedwig hooted in contentment, bringing a smile to Harry's face as he unrolled the ltter. His eyes quickly scanned the page, Ron standing at his shoulder and reading along as well.

Trisha quietly crossed the room and knelt by Hermione's feet, looking quizzically at the bird before her. Hedwig returned Trisha's gaze, and the two stared intently at each other as a perplexed Hermione constantly looked back and forth between the two.

Harry's face lit up in a smile as he handed the letter to Ron, who continued to read; Hedwig hooted; Trisha smiled; and Hermione, having had enough of all this, suddenly shouted, "What in the world is going on here?"

Hedwig and Trisha both jolted in surprise, but Harry jumped right in. "Take it easy, Hermione, it's ok. Remus just wanted to meet with us in the Forbidden Forest – he says it's time to make new plans."

"But why?" Hermione asked, clearly concerned – had something gone wrong? Were they not accomplishing the goals that they need to?

Ron looked up from the letter, face bright. "It's because they found the seventh horcrux!"

…

Roy stared up at the protective stone wall before him, wide-eyed in surprise. A cool, brisk breeze stirred up leaves along the side-walk, rusting the yellow caution tape that boxed Roy and Havoc in. The general brushed back his hair away from his remaining good eye, straining to get the best possible vision that he could in order to better see the softly glowing, freshly etched transmutation circle that had suddenly materialized in the same part of the wall that Trisha had disappeared through just hours before.

…

**So, what did everyone think? Sorry that was such a long synopsis, guys – but, considering that we're on chapter 20 and I'm on about page 56 here on my word document, I felt that it needed to be done. Please everyone give me some feedback, although I know that there's not much to really go on right now… Sorry! I know I've been bad… At least there's one bright side to being back in school – American government! Now I can finally get some writing done! Haha! See you guys soon in chapter 21! Thank you to everyone for your wonderful patience – you're the best readers in the world! (bows)**


	21. New Findings

**Hello, all! How are things? Yaay! A new update! That's a reason right there to be in a good mood! I've been so busy lately – sorry I didn't get this chapter up over the weekend like I had originally said I would! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Be sure to review! Oh, and go out and buy the 13th FMA volume and the FMA movie "Conqueror of Shamballa" – they came out today! Whoopee! **

**I do not own FMA – but my Best Buy was all out of the 13th DVD! Sob! And they only had two copies left of the movie! They sure went fast! Sigh… what a waste of gas… No episodes, and I'm buying the Limited Edition of the movie that comes out in November… Sigh… **

Chapter 21: "New Findings"

Roy reached a hand out towards the etched circle before him. The transmutation circle grew brighter, and, his palms inches from its surface, the light vanished. Roy's hand flinched; he paused, then slowly set his ungloved hand on the circle, feeling the stone's coolness and the roughness of the edges of the hewn array. He passed his hand slowly back and forth, letting each line, each curve, each symbol, sink into his being as he drank the sight of if with his eye, vainly, desperately trying to memorize it, to know it, to feel it, to _will_ it to do what he so desperately wanted it to do. Havoc watched on sadly, mind trying to comprehend what Roy already knew. A single tear slid down Mustang's cheek at the images and voices floating through his mind as he continued to keep his hand firmly on the circle in front of him. "Trisha…" he whispered before closing his eye and letting his hand fall to his side.

…

"You're kidding!" Hermione exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, sending Hedwig flying off in a panic. The great white owl hooted in annoyance as she landed on Trisha's shoulder.

Harry's face split into a huge grin. "Nope! He's not! They should be destroying it as we speak!"

"But where was it?" Hermione asked.

"In Kreacher's closet!" Ron told her with a mix of sarcasm and pride – he still couldn't forgive her for standing up for the house-elf in the first place.

"His closet? How?" the young witch asked skeptically.

"The horcrux was the locket!" Harry told her.

"the locket? What locket?"

"The one we found at Grimmauld place, remember?" Ron said.

"What? Oh, _that_ locket!"

"Yeah! We found it when we were cleaning – "

"And Sirius tried to throw it out – "

"But Kreacher kept it!"

"That's right! But how will they destroy it?"

"Burn it, I suppose."

"Ronald! That wouldn't work!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do! But if it was a horcrux, how did the locket get to Sirius' in the first place?"

"Maybe Voldermort put it there…"

"Maybe a Death Eater was hiding it there…"

"Sirius wasn't a Death Eater!"

"I know, it was Snape!"

"No it was _not_, Ronald!"

Hedwig and Trisha kept darting their heads back and forth between the three as if at a ping-pong match, neither one of them exactly understanding what was going on. "Who's Sirius?" Trisha asked finally.

All three wizards turned their heads towards her at once – Hermione shot her a deadly glare, Harry had a subdued look, and Ron stared at her, goggle-eyed and surprised to see her – he hadn't even seen her enter the room.

"Of all the nerve – !" Hermione started to rant before Harry quickly cut her off.

"Quit it, Hermione. It's ok…"

"Humph!" Hermione snorted before snatching the letter from Ron and stomping off towards the other room. "I'm going to go pack!" she called out furiously behind her; a few seconds later they heard the door slam.

Ron's eyes darted back and forth nervously. "Umm… I'll… I'll just…"

"Ron, you wait here – let's give Hermione a chance to cool down," Harry suggested, evoking a sigh from Ron.  
'Doesn't he understand how difficult it is to be in the same room as your ex-girlfriend?' the gangly red-head thought gloomily. He plopped down on the bed, deciding it would be easiest to feign sleep. Harry walked over and sat at the edge of the bed, facing Trisha with his back to Ron, trying to ignore his best friend's pathetic attempts at snoring. His fingers fiddled with the dull blue bedspread as he looked out the dusty window, watching the bustle of late afternoon London's traffic, wondering who everyone was, where they came from and where they were going. Trisha watched him somberly, knowing that whatever he was about to tell her was going to be a painful subject. With a soft rush of wings, Hedwig had flown to Harry's knee, gently pecking at her master's hand. The snowy owl's soothing presence seemed to snap Harry out of his reverie. He dropped his head, avoiding Trisha's eyes by concentrating on the owl in his lap. It was depressing enough just to think about Sirius' death – if he had to look at another person's face, he was afraid that he might break down. He inhaled deeply, chest rattling with anxiety and emotion. He began to stroke his owl's white back, trying to calm himself down.

"Sirius…" he began softly, "was my godfather, and one of the best people in the world. I didn't even know him until I was about 13 – even when I did first meet him, I thought that he was the man responsible for my parents' death. I know now that that isn't true, that he was actually my dad's best friend; I also know that the man who's really responsible for my parents being killed is a man named Peter Pettigrew…" Trisha sat quietly, thinking back to her own mother's death, and how she had been told stories of her grandparents' murder by non other than the general she had befriended back in Amestris almost a week ago – Roy Mustang.

After a long pause Harry lifted his head, finely meeting Trisha's eyes. He noted the sad look on her face. They stared at each other for a moment, Ron quietly watching them, until Trisha finally asked, "What happened to him?"

Harry's mouth set into a grim line, trying desperately to keep all of his pain and feelings inside. "He died," he told her finally. Trisha silently nodded, showing her understanding. From his position on the bed Ron quietly sighed. No, Harry _didn't_ know how hard it was to be in the same room as your ex-girlfriend…

…

"Chief? You ok?" Havoc asked, concerned for his friend and superior's well-being – the general didn't look so good – he definitely needed more sleep. 'I'll have to talk to Riza,' he thought. 'Maybe she could get him to go home and take a nap or something…'

Roy finally opened his eye. He gave the circle on the wall one last look before turning and facing his lieutenant colonel. "I'm fine, Havoc," he replied tersely as he stalked off. Havoc's eyes followed him. Roy paused as he reached the yellow tape, lifting it so he could pass underneath. "… Thank you," he said. Havoc smiled. "Now go continue your search and immediately report to me anything that you find!" he barked.

"Yes, sir!" Havoc shouted as he snapped to attention.

Roy waited until Havoc's running footsteps receded in the distance before continuing down the sidewalk along the wall. He put his hands in his pockets to protect his fingers from the slight chill – the last remnants of a late winter. He tilted his chin back, letting the breeze blow his hair back and out of his face, fully revealing the large black eye-patch that he had won himself over 9 years ago on the night he had fought against Bradley.

There was no one along the street, and the only sound that could be heard was the rustling of leaves. "You know…" he suddenly said out loud to himself, "I think I'll go home and take a nap." He let out a soft chuckle. "Yes," he said amiably, "I should probably go do that before _she_ comes and gets me herself!"

…

"So…" Trisha finally said after a while, intent on changing the topic to something a little less painful for her new friend, "who's this 'Snape' person you were talking about?"

Ron quickly sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to that he was sitting next to Harry. "Only the meanest, slimiest person ever!" he told her vehemently.

Trisha blinked in surprise – she hadn't expected a response like _that!_

Harry shrugged. "Well, that's the _easiest _way to describe him…"

Trisha looked back and forth between the two boys – Ron's brow was furrowed and his face red with anger and resentment; Harry was back to looking at Hedwig, face contorted in a scowl. "Umm…" she began nervously, "what exactly did he _do?_"

Ron looked uneasily at Harry, whose body was beginning to shake. He clenched his fists tightly – Hedwig turned and looked up at her master nervously. "He killed Dumbledore…" he said viciously, voice filled with a quiet rage. Trisha stared at him levelly, sorrow in her eyes – it was obvious to her that this "Dumbledore" person was just as important to Harry as Sirius had been… she could hardly imagine such a pain.

There was a soft knock at the door. All three turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway, Lupin's letter in her hand. "Harry," she said calmly, as if speaking to a troublesome child, "do you remember what time Lupin said to be at the meeting place?"

"Yeah, 6:00, why?" Harry asked, slightly confused.

"Because," Hermione explained in that same tone of voice, "it's now 5:30 and we haven't even reached Hogsmeade yet."

Harry and Ron quickly looked at each other, wide-eyed and panicky – it would take at least 20 minutes just to reach the forest from the small town… They both jumped up and dashed about the room, throwing quills, parchment, clothes and other things haphazardly into their bags. Hermione gave a "tsk!" and went back down the hallway, shaking her head. A slightly confused Trisha watched these goings-on with a general bemusement. Hedwig fluttered onto her knee and looked up at her.

"Well," she told the owl genially as she watched with a flinch as Harry and Ron ran into each other in their haste, "I suppose it's a good thing that I never bothered to unpack when we got here!"

…

**How was that? A little longer, yes? Good! Maybe not as long as past chapters, but I'm still getting back into my stride! The next chapter will be even longer than that one! Sorry it took so long to update this, everyone… Let me know what you think! Also, I know that I already explained that the three HP characters would be a little OOC for the most part, but am I doing an ok job? Or is it just too terrible to describe? Please, though, keep your reviews friendly! Thanks so much! I look forward to hearing from you all and seeing you in the next chapter!**


	22. Lost

**Happy New Year! **

**Well, crap, that was a waste of a Christmas break – I planned to get all this super stuff done, and instead I spent the whole thing lying in bed being sick… I guess it wasn't a total loss, though… I spent the last three days grounded because my room is totally trashed – so at least my closet is clean now! My room is still trashed, but I'm getting there… **

**So anyway, I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions – I think they're totally bunk. But this year I've actually made one that I really do hope to keep – to write as much as I can during the day (stupid school…) and over the weekend, and to update something, ANYTHING, at least two times per month – every other Saturday. Now, normally I'd be all for "one update a week," but any college-bound student (or one already in college) could totally back me up when I say that that would be nearly impossible… I'd probably end up dieing of exhaustion around week three. So I'll do what I can. I promise. **

**Now, everyone ready for a new chapter? (Yaaaaay!) Great, let's go! This was originally a part of a much larger chapter, but upon review I decided to break it up as thus… Let me know what you think at the end!**

**Insert disclaimer here:.**

Chapter 22: Lost

"I'm home!" Roy called out as he entered his house. No answer… Roy looked around himself and sighed. The house that the government had supplied him with always seemed more like it actually was – a mansion – when he was by himself in it. Neither he nor Riza had wanted a house that big, but it certainly wasn't their place to refuse the government – they had wanted all their top military leaders as close to headquarters as possible in case of an emergency.

Since Roy was the most influential of the military leaders (being head of the State Alchemy Department), he was needed to be the closest-by of all, and unfortunately the only place that was available was the utterly huge mansion he was in now. He slowly walked through the opulent foyer towards the staircase, footsteps echoing off of the marble floors and the high ceilings. He slowly, tiredly dragged himself up the marble-laid stairs, hand brushing limply along the polished mahogany banister. He couldn't help but remember all the jeers he had received shortly after the invasion of Central and Ed's leaving for the second (and final) time – other officers accusing him of bribing the higher-ups, dealing with terrorists, even purposely killing Bradley just so he could claim what was once the Fuhrer's – a powerful title, a rich lifestyle… an eye patch… Mustang's brow furrowed as he brought a hand up to the coarse black cloth. It _wasn't_ like Bradley's – there was no special power that he held behind it – just a dead eye that could no longer see and a large scar – the only thing that would constantly remind him that even though he may have won his battle against Bradley, he still lost – he failed to save his country, and he had failed to save Edward. The blindness, in his opinion, was just some sort of cruel consolation prize. He shook his head – he had to stop thinking about those things! It didn't do to dwell on a negative past – he knew that all he could do was walk forward towards a brighter future.

He sighed. He knew it was true, but why did it always sound so corny whenever it was him that was saying it? Whenever Riza said such things it always sounded so _true_…

"Speaking of which, where _is_ Riza…?" he pondered out loud to himself as he reached the landing. He was about to continue up the stairs when he stopped. He turned and stared at the window on the landing, its sash closed, darkening the stairway.

"I wonder…" He pulled back the crimson silk curtain, clean sunlight pouring through and illuminating the gold-patterned paper that covered the walls. He squinted, his eye adjusting to the light. After a moment he was able to look out across the property surrounding the mansion – the willow and pine trees that dotted the grounds, the birds that were gathering at the small feeder in the cherry blossom tree that he and Riza had planted when they first arrived at the mansion… He smiled. There she was, her back to him and completely unaware of his presence, working in the small garden that Roy had begun just over a year ago.

He found gardening to be a great source of relaxation – basking in the simple joy of being able to roam around outdoors and work with nature in its most simple and beautiful of forms. His wife had been more or less opposed to it, claiming it would be another distraction for him, and on principle refused to even set foot near it. Yet with the continued emergence of the terrorist groups along with the trials of day-to-day life in the military, Roy found that, distraction or no, he just simply didn't have the time to work in his garden anymore. He had eventually resigned himself to the fact that the backyard plot would eventually wither away, another fruitless attempt at creating life, until such time as he could try again to renew it… like after his retirement. Yet he had been genuinely surprised to discover one day that the garden hadn't died, but rather had exploded in color, as if under the warm care of some unseen hand. The revelation had baffled him for weeks until his suspicions set in… granted, the trousers with the muddied knees in the laundry hamper had been a big give-away.

And so it was true, while Roy had grudgingly set aside his gardening days, Riza had been secretly taking over for him. She did it partly because she knew it would make her husband happy to see the small plot flourish, but mostly she did it because she found that it was, in fact, quite relaxing – something that she'd never admit to, of course.

Roy continued to gaze out the window, his thoughts wandering from gardens and his wife to other, darker matters… Riza suddenly looked up, as if sensing this foreboding change in mood from the very earth itself. She slowly turned around, spotting Roy peering out the window at her, his gaze upon her but unfocused, as if not really seeing what was there. She hastily stood up and retreated towards the house (not so much out of embarrassment for being caught in the garden she supposedly loathed, but out of concern for Roy), wiping the dirt from her hands and dress, and pinning her long, blonde hair back to a more respectable bun.

Her sudden movements seemed to snap Roy out of his reverie. Feeling slightly guilty for catching his wife off-guard, he quickly scurried up the stairs least she find him loitering. But although his movements were rapid, his thoughts were still low and heavy, and his mood became that much graver as the curtain fluttered back in its place, casting Roy in shadow.

…

After several minutes of frantic packing, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Trisha had said their quick good-byes to Tom the inn-keeper, who was currently occupied in wiping down the bar. Hagrid had apparently gone to bed, as his great form was nowhere to be seen in the pub's constant haze of smoke. As soon as their small group had exited the Leaky Cauldron and stepped onto the cobbled streets of London, Fawkes, who had been perching on Trisha's shoulder, vanished in a sudden burst of flames. Even though the great bird had warned her of his departure, the spectacle still made Trisha jump in surprise, her heart racing – even though she had been in this other, magical world for almost a week now, she still had trouble getting used to the things that wizards found so commonplace, such as people disappearing in the blink of an eye…

And sure enough, there she went, in the blink of an eye and amidst a roar of wind and light. After a quick "pop," Trisha found herself staggering in the drizzly, rural streets of Hogsmeade. Harry let go of her hand, an action that caught Trisha completely by surprise. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had failed to realize that she and her wizard friends had spent the last ten or fifteen minutes walking through the bustling streets of London, and then down a deserted alley so that no home-bound passerby would see them apparate – Harry had noticed that Trisha went into a deep trance almost as soon as they had stepped foot out of the pub, and so had taken her hand in his to make sure that she didn't get left behind or lost. Upon realizing all this, Trisha began to blush, eyes downcast. Harry looked at her concernedly. Ron stepped over to her, stooping a little to wave a hand in front of her face. Startled, she looked up and shook her head, trying to bring herself back into focus. They were all staring at her – even Hermione looked concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Did something happen?"

"You were so quiet – we were worried!"  
"Yeah, you didn't say anything, even when we talked to you."

Trisha looked at them all. Here they were – her friends (she even considered Hermione her friend, although a stern one, by this point), people who cared about her and trusted her despite everything that had happened – her sudden appearance and trying to attack them, shouting in a library and getting herself and Ron kicked out… Her face flushed red with embarrassment and at having worried them. Her eyes began to sting, her heart grew heavy, and she felt herself grow warm with discomfort and longing. She blinked hard several times, trying to clear the water that was distorting her vision. In a surge of light and heat, Fawkes was on her shoulder, gently nuzzling her cheek. Finally she could no longer hold it in – the one thing that she had been wanting to do – almost desperate to do – since her arrival in this strange land… Trisha crouched down in the deserted street, holding her knees, and began to cry.

Her friends stood around her, unsure of what to do, as the fog turned to rain and cold water poured down on them from a darkened sky.

…

**Sigh… so, how was it, really? I really did like the chapter title this time around… I've found that they're actually quite hard to come up with, but I think my splitting the original (humongo) chapter up helped out a bit… Concentrate on that, though (the title, I mean), because next chapter is going to be a complement to it… including the title of the chapter… Yeah… Only I would think of something like that, huh? Maybe not? Yeah, maybe not… The point is, concentrate on some of the "deeper" aspects – really read into it. I'm not mean, so all of those "hidden meanings" really aren't hidden, so much as they're loosely covered with sand… You know, like hiding it somewhere that isn't really hidden? Because you can still see it? Yeah… Ok, I'm done now… Happy New Year! 2007! WOOT! SENIORS! YEAH! WOOO!**

**Oh, and don't forget to drop me a review, ok? Especially all of my fanfic buddies – sorry I haven't kept in touch! (For some reason we only communicate via reviews… shrugs) – but please, no degrading comments or flames, because the last person who did that to me got their ass kicked, metaphorically speaking. I just don't tolerate it, is all I'm trying to say. You're free to your comments and I respect that, but just don't be mean. No one likes a mean person. Ok, I'm done now. G'night!**

**-The New FMA**

Ok, ok, I'm sorry, but two quick "house-keeping" type things: For starters, for anyone who cares to know or cares at all, this story is right now at about 56 pages and approximately 28,000 words. Second: I'm going to do a "Q&A" session in an upcoming chapter – probably ch. 23 or 24. So, start coming up with questions! I'll answer every single one and post them at the end of the chapter, or maybe as a separate "chapter" – if there are repeat questions, then obviously I'll just post the question once. So, now would be a great time to clear up anything you might be confused about, etc. Just send me a review or a P.M., and put "Q&A" before your question so I know. Thanks! I'll mention this again in my next update.


	23. Searching and Humility

**Hello, hello, one and all! It is I, The New FMA! A heartfelt thanks to one and all who have reviewed the story during my, er, hiatus, and an especial thanks to hiya24 who gently reminded me that it has been an exceedingly long amount of time since my last update. I have absolutely no excuses, except to say that I could have sworn that it was February yesterday, not May. Where does all the time go when you need it most? I just don't understand. Well, I've had this chapter written but not typed for quite a while, and now I finally present it to you! Last chapter I didn't hear from as many of my normal readers as I had anticipated, but I guess that's what I get for being sporadic. **

**So please, send me a review! And if you'd like, I'm still willing to do a Q&A, but first I need some questions! Just send me a message or review, and give me a question! Well, I hope you enjoy reading! You might have to read back at least one chapter to jog your memories; in fact, I'd recommend it. Chapters 22 and 23 are basically one humongo chapter broken up. **

**Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter 23! Please review! I didn't create FMA, so don't sue me for the way the movie ended! **

Chapter 23: Searching

Roy sighed wearily as he opened a set of large, oaken doors, entering his study. It was a spacious room whose walls were made of shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling, housing thousands upon thousands of handsome, leather-bound books, all rare volumes on alchemy. He went and stood behind the polished mahogany desk, briefly glancing at the files and papers stacked upon it that Riza had brought home for him much earlier that same morning. A grandfather clock standing at one end of the room began to chime. Roy listened and counted – … nine… ten… eleven.

'Eleven already?' he thought. 'How long did I take to walk home? It was just before nine when Havoc came to get me…' his thoughts trailed as his vision wandered to the large bay window behind him. Now that he was on the second floor, he could easily see the stone wall that cut off the property from the street. Almost out of sight, Roy could just make out the yellow caution tape dancing in the breeze. He sadly turned towards the left end of the room where another oak door was nestled between two bookshelves. He opened the door and walked inside. The room was dark and cool, the window shades closed against the late morning sun.

The mansion that Roy and Riza occupied was so large that they had no need of over half of it. Seeing as they were only two individuals in a very large house, they used only a few rooms for what they needed, and left the rest spotless and empty, but ready for any guests that should need a place to sleep. There was also a spacious basement, but Roy refused to step foot in it on principle. He had almost lost his life in a wine cellar, and the less time he had to spend in an underground concrete box, the happier he'd be. The room adjoining the study was originally meant to be a guestroom, but the couple chose it as their private bedroom for its size (while it was certainly not the most spacious room in the house, to them it was comfortable), and also because of its location – the only way one could get in was through the library/study, and the room had large windows that provided a wonderful view of the garden and backyard with its groves of trees, as well as Central's main street, now resplendent in the colors of spring. The room's decorational features appealed to the general and his wife as well. The walls were of a pale blue color, giving a feeling of coolness to the room even when the curtains of the east-facing windows were open and the light of the morning sun, glowing red, shone through. Not to mention that there was a fireplace, a fact that pleased Roy to no end despite himself.

Yet today not even fire – the bane and pinnacle of his existence – could erase Roy's current thoughts and feelings. He flopped down onto the bed, lying on his stomach and burying his head into the soft down pillows as he kicked off his shoes. He silently blessed the coolness of the cotton sheets against him, and was thankful that the curtains were closed and the room was dark. Not only did this mean that he would be able to fall asleep much easier, but it also meant that he wouldn't be constantly reminded of his lost alchemist – had the curtains been drawn back, he would have had a perfect view of the wall that Trisha had disappeared through, resplendent with the vibrant tape that shouted to the world of his most recent failure.

…

Riza slowly opened the door, poling her head into the bedroom. Sunlight poured through from the study, casting her shadow onto the carpeted floor. She walked over to the bed and took in the sight of her husband with a smile. It had been ten minutes since she had discovered him looking out at her, and it appeared that he hadn't moved a muscle since then. He lay on his stomach, arms supporting his head, his face turned away from the closed and drawn windows, his boots lying forgotten on the ground. Riza walked over to one of the windows and slowly opened it, careful to keep the curtains shut and the room dark. A gentle breeze entered the room, bringing with it the soft warmth of spring sunlight and the scent of flower blossoms. The curtain softly rippled and Riza's skirt swayed. She quietly crawled onto the bed, lying on her side and lovingly watching her husband's sleeping face. She reached out a hand and gently stroked his hair back, uncovering his eye patch. She undid the knot in the long black string that held the patch tightly to his face; the black cloth fell, revealing the long mark running from his eyebrow down to his cheekbone; his left eye was scarred shut. She traced the long scar with her fingertip, noting how clammy the skin was. She shook her head.

"Oh, Roy," she sighed quietly, "how many times do you have to be told that your skin needs fresh air to stay healthy? Why do you always leave that patch on?"

Roy barely opened his good eye, gazing at his wife sorrowfully. "Because… I want to…" he told her softly.

"What?" she asked, unable to control herself in keeping in an incredulous laugh. "Why?"

"I don't know…" he whispered.

Riza set her face stonily. "Is it because it makes you feel powerful?"

"No!" he said vehemently, giving a small, strong shake of his head.

"Important?"

"No," he said more softly, his façade beginning to crack under his wife's keen gaze.

"Do you think that if you wear it all the time you'll be safe? Invincible?"

Roy's lips moved, but no words came out. Tears slid silently down his cheek.

Riza couldn't bear to see Roy like this, but continued to press on – no matter how much it hurt him, he _needed_ this… and she'd keep searching until she found the true cause for his pain…

"Are you ashamed?" she continued. "Are you trying to hide? Or is it that you think that by wearing it all the time you'll be able to fix everything?"

Roy said nothing. He desperately tried to choke back the tears, but it was all in vain. He sobbed uncontrollably into his wife's arms, all of his pain and frustrations bursting forth at once, leaving him immensely vulnerable.

"Oh, Roy…" Riza whispered sadly as she stroked his raven hair, holding him close until he cried himself to sleep.

…

"Trisha! Trisha, what's wrong?" Harry asked frantically, kneeling down on the ground next to her, trying to peer into her face.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, her words muffled by her arms. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment; what was wrong with her? She'd never done anything like this – crying in front of people, especially when it seemed so random. She hadn't even cried in front of anyone when her mother had died. Her father's proud streak was definitely alive and well in her… But she couldn't help it – despite how hard she tried or how strong she tried to be, she couldn't help it – couldn't hold back any longer what she felt gripping at her each day and each night – fear. That icy sense of urgency, screaming that time was unraveling around her. She began to shake uncontrollably, teeth chattering as the cold rain seeped through her clothes and clung to her stooped frame. Hermione and Ron began to shiver as well as the rain came down ever harder. Harry looked at her sadly.

'NO!' her mind screamed at her. 'You have to keep a grip on yourself! If they see the real you, they'll never be your friends! And you still need them to get home…'

Trisha shook her head harshly as her mind raged at her. She was tired of all this – tired of always standing by, watching, never doing anything for anyone but herself, and hiding – always hiding…

'They trust you, don't they?' something at the back of her mind asked. 'They trust you – and it's time that you begin to trust them, too.'

"Right…" Trisha mumbled to herself. She looked up at the dark sky, the rain stinging her face. She looked at each of her three companions in turn, huddled and cold in the soaking weather. She closed her eyes, face still turned towards the raining heavens.

"I'm sorry," she said hoarsely, the words barely audible above the storm.

Harry, Hermione and Ron started, looking down at her. Trisha began to smile.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you, and I'm sorry. You've been so kind to me, trusting me, being my friends… I owe you at least the same."

"Wh-what are you t-talking about?" Ron stuttered, his clothes clinging wetly to his body.

Trisha opened her eyes, an embarrassed smile plastered on her wet face. She looked at him. "I'm not really who you think I am."

Hermione's eyes narrowed in suspicion and against the rain. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Trisha gave a small, nervous laugh. "I mean that I'm not who I've been portraying myself to be. I'm not always quiet or humble – most of the time I'm loud and rude. I've been trying my best to be as nice as possible, because I'm so afraid that people will hate me for who I really am… I…" she stopped, tears mingling with the rain running down her face.

Ron, Harry and Hermione looked on, now oblivious to the rain, their entire beings focusing on the girl in front of them who they knew nothing about yet cared for completely.

"I…" Trisha's voice caught in her throat. She took a breath, and pressed on. "I don't want to be by myself anymore. I don't want to keep losing people." She looked up at her three companions, searching their eyes for something, anything – recognition or even denial.

Hermione was the first to respond. She gave a small smile. "Ok."

Trisha's eyes grew wide with surprise and relief. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, her smile growing wider.

Trisha flooded with happiness, and, finally, warmth, as a pale blue light shone through from her lap through the dark rain. A small engraving materialized on the far left side of her auto-mail hand – her father's basic array before he opened the Gate.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," Ron said, apparently unaware of the fading glow of Trisha's hand. "I mean, we deal with Harry all the time, right, Hermione? I'm sure whatever you're like couldn't be nearly as bad, Trisha."

Trisha and Hermione, also oblivious to Trisha's latest development, laughed. Ron sneezed.

"Oy, Harry, you ready to go, mate? I'm freezing my arse off!" Ron asked the bespectacled boy next to him. Harry didn't respond.

"Oh, don't tell me you're mad," Hermione said huffily.

Harry still didn't respond. His face, covered by his wet hair, was unmoving, his gaze downwards.

"Harry?" Trisha asked apprehensively, gazing up into his face. His eyes were dark and morose, yet frightful, as if he were angry…

He looked up slowly, his eyes flashing suddenly before glazing over. "I'm find," he said before turning and moving on.

Hermione and Ron followed with a small shrug, content with the answer since it got them out of the rain. They were used to Harry's mood swings, often offset by seemingly unimportant events and actions, something Trisha's crying, or, perhaps, even the foul weather, to be.

But Trisha was by no means placated by Harry's response. That fleeting glimpse of emotion in Harry's eyes, that sudden change, shook Trisha to her very core. While the flashing change in Harry's eyes lasted only a moment, to Trisha it was much, much longer… long enough to betray to Trisha Harry's true state. Whatever happiness she had felt with her confession and the advent of a new circle was now gone, the icy grip of fear enclosed back around her heart. Yet Trisha knew that this time it would take a much longer search to find its cause.

…

**Once again, a large thanks to everyone as well as a huge apology. The school year is drawing to a close and I'm just about ready to graduate! I have no plans whatsoever to work this year, and with any luck I'll have a laptop by the end of the month, which means that I can write out chapters while my family and I travel and without having to depend on my dear, clunky, horrifically slow computer. Huzzah! **

**So, please review! And for anyone who cares (I do, for some reason) this chapter was 4 pages long in a Word document (without comments in bold), and in Word it is now up to 64 pages and is over 31,000 words long! I daresay that it's growing to be the size of a normal Harry Potter book, which are hundreds of pages long, but certainly not on an 8.5x11" sheet of paper! Go me:)**


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